A pregnant German woman abducted by gunmen in Afghanistan was freed late last night, hours after she appeared in a video asking for help.

Christina Meier, 31, was released after police carried out a raid on the building used by the kidnappers. Her abduction was the first of a Westerner in the Afghan capital two years.

Details of the raid remained sketchy. Zemary Bashari, an Interior Ministry spokesman, would confirm only that the woman was rescued and “a group of kidnappers arrested”.

News of the police operation will come as welcome relief to the thousands of international workers living in Kabul. The community has been gripped with fear since Ms Meier was snatched on Saturday afternoon.

Ms Meier was eating lunch with her husband when she was snatched in the south west of Kabul. Her husband tried to stop the attackers but failed.

Local police saw the kidnapping and opened fire on the kidnappers’ grey Toyota Corolla car, killing a local taxi driver.

In the video Ms Meier said: “I am fine. There are no threats against me. I want my country to do what it can for my release.” Ms Meier spoke in Dari, the local language, and was reading from a piece of paper.

The video, which was broadcast on private local television station Tolo TV, showed Ms Meier wearing a white headscarf and holding her German passport.

Ms Meier worked for Ora, a German Christian charity, and had been in Kabul for a year. She was working with local prostitutes, teaching them HIV prevention.

One of the kidnappers, a man wearing sunglasses with his head covered by a scarf said: “We are not bad people. We are a special network.” Earlier yesterday local police said that they did not believe the gang holding Ms Meier were Taleban insurgents.

Ali Shah Paktiawal, the head of criminal investigations in Kabul, ruled out the involvement of the Taleban. Esmatullah Dauladzai, the chief of police for Kabul, said that it was too early to say who was behind the kidnapping.

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