PRAGUE - Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Saturday that two Czech tourists kidnapped two years ago in Pakistan had been released and have returned to the Czech Republic.

"I am glad that I can confirm that Hana Humpalova and Antonie Chrastecka, have returned to the Czech Republic this morning," Sobotka said in an emailed statement.

He added Turkish organisation Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) took part in the negotiations that led to the release.

The two were hosted at the IHH's office in Van in eastern Turkey for a time and then handed over to Czech officials and sent back to their home country, Turkey's state-run news agency Anatolian said.

The women were kidnapped by armed assailants in March 2013 in Pakistan's western Baluchistan province, while travelling from Iran to India.