However, the freeing of Stephen Farrell left his Afghan translator dead. A British commando involved in the rescue also died.
Gunmen seized Mr. Farrell and his interpreter, Sultan Munadi, on Saturday while they were working in a village south of Kunduz.
An Afghan journalist who spoke to villagers in the area said that civilians were also killed in the firefight to free the journalists. That report could not be independently verified, and few details of the operation itself were available. British officials said there were investigating accounts of civilian deaths.
Mr. Farrell and Mr. Munadi were abducted while they were reporting on the aftermath of NATO airstrikes on Friday that exploded two fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban militants. Afghan officials have said up to 90 people, including many civilians, were killed in the attack, which NATO officials are now investigating.
In a brief telephone call about 7:30 p.m. New York time on Tuesday, Mr. Farrell told Susan Chira, the foreign editor of The Times: “I’m out! I’m free!”
Ms. Chira said Mr. Farrell told her that he had been “extracted” by a commando raid carried out by “a lot of soldiers” in a fierce firefight with his captors. Mr. Farrell said he had also called his wife.