The release of a hostage professor at an Australian university and several of his local colleagues took place a week after the capture, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape said on February 26 on his social media page.

“We apologize to the families of those taken hostage for ransom, it took us some time, but the last three were successfully returned through covert operations without paying 3,5 million kinas (75,5 million rubles),” Marape said.

Recall, on February 20, the police commissioner of the Pacific island nation announced the start of a rescue operation to search for an Australian professor and three local researchers who were taken hostage in the remote mountainous area of ​​Bosawi.

It was reported that the armed gang demanded a ransom for the captives. Moreover, in the statement of the police commissioner, the militants were called "opportunists", and the situation - "delicate".