AFGHANISTAN-KIDNAP/SECURITY Foreign aid worker kidnapped in central Kabul

Record ID: 143692

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN-KIDNAP/SECURITY Foreign aid worker kidnapped in central Kabul
  • Date: 17th August 2015
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 17, 2015) (REUTERS) AFGHAN POLICE GUARDING STREET NEAR AREA OF KIDNAPPING VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF BUILDING FROM WHERE A FOREIGN AID WORKER WAS KIDNAPPED, SAID TO BE GUEST HOUSE USED BY FOREIGNERS PEOPLE PASSING SAME BUILDING SECURITY CAMERA ON THE BUILDING WOMEN WALKING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) LOCAL RESIDENT, AZIZ UL RAHMAN, SAYING: "It was 9.10 a
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Afghanistan
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Z031PX11HEPMX3VMMN7V8T19
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Armed men kidnapped a foreign aid worker, believed to be German, in downtown Kabul on Monday (August 17), the latest in a spate of attacks on foreign targets at a time of declining security in the Afghan capital.
    It was not clear if militants or a criminal group were behind the kidnap, as there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the second abduction of a foreigner in recent months in Kabul, which has suffered a wave of lethal bombings.
    The kidnapping was confirmed by Interior Ministry Spokesman Najib Danish who said an investigation was ongoing.
    One man described what he saw outside the building from where the aid worker was kidnapped.
    "It was 9.10 am local time and I came out of my home. I saw several policemen who were inspecting the scene. I asked what had happened, then I heard a woman was kidnapped," said local resident Aziz Ul Rahman.
    Security sources said the victim worked for German development agency GIZ, which was the target of another kidnapping in north Afghanistan earlier this year.
    GIZ and the German foreign ministry declined to comment.
    Afghanistan is one of the world's most dangerous places for aid workers. Many more Afghans are kidnapped than foreigners, however, including members of the Hazara minority that is often targeted by militants.
    On Saturday (August 15), the United States embassy in Kabul warned U.S. citizens in an "emergency message" that insurgents were planning more attacks, targeting several sites frequented by foreigners in the city.
    In 2014, 57 aid workers were killed in Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says.
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