Kathmandu, Jan 16, SPA -- Nepal's Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrow the monarchy, freed 14 soldiers from India's Gurkha regiment on Sunday who had been kidnapped as they headed home to villages in Nepal on leave, a human rights activist said. "They were not tortured and were unhurt," Khadga Raj Joshi, an official of the Nepali rights group, Insec, told Reuters from the town of Dhangadhi, in the country's west. He said the soldiers were freed at a village about 665 km (415 miles) west of Kathmandu without condition and in the presence of local journalists and rights activists. "The freed soldiers are unharmed and have already left for their home villages after being freed," he said. It is unclear why the soldiers were seized. Known for their fighting skills, Gurkhas hail from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. They have served in foreign armies since Britain began recruiting them 190 years ago. The soldiers were kidnapped on Friday from the Maoist stronghold of Kailali while they were going to their Nepali villages on leave from duty in India. --SPA 1457 Local Time 1157 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/232940