Taliban militants freed Pakistan’s envoy to Afghanistan on Saturday, following the release of more than 40 of their own men by Pakistani authorities over the past few days, according to a senior security official.

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin was released in South Waziristan, where he was being held by fighters loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, the official said.

The government has yet to give an official account of the circumstances surrounding the envoy’s release.

“I can confirm he is released, and he is safe and sound,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said.

Azizuddin, 56, went missing on February 11 along with his driver and a guard as he was travelling from the north-western city of Peshawar to the Afghan-Pakistani border.

He was on his way back to the Afghan capital, where he had been ambassador since 2005.

Over the past few days more than 40 Taliban fighters held captive by the authorities had been released, though it is uncertain whether the ambassador was exchanged for an specific militant, according to a senior security officer.

The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the envoy was originally abducted by one of several kidnap gangs operating in and around the historic Khyber Pass. But he was subsequently passed on to the Pakistani Taliban, who moved him to South Waziristan, at the southeast end of the tribal belt, where he was held in the Mehsud tribal lands by men loyal to Baitullah Mehsud.

Pakistan’s new government, sworn in at the end of March, has begun a policy of engagement, negotiating through tribal leaders to persuade Mehsud to halt operations from the region.