Officials say five Bangladeshi workers kidnapped in Afghanistan late last year have been freed.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters in Dhaka that the hostages were released early Tuesday following negotiations between their captors and Afghan tribal elders.

Seven Bangladeshis working for a South Korean construction company were kidnapped in December of 2010 when assailants attacked a workers' camp near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Another Bangladeshi was killed in the attack. Two of the abducted were released within days.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The foreign minister said the five freed workers were expected to return to Bangladesh within a week or so.