Australian aid worker kidnapped at gunpoint in Kabul

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Police have launched an investigation into the kidnapping of an Australian aid worker in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the city's police chief said Sunday.

The woman, who has joint Afghan and Australian nationality, is an adviser for the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) working alongside the government, NGOs and the UN.

Few details of the abduction on Saturday evening have been released but she was forced into a car at gunpoint by four men armed with assault rifles in the Qala-e-Fatehullah neighborhood.

Police Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, head of Kabul’s police, said the victim was with her driver when she was abducted.

No one has claimed responsibility.

The abduction is the latest in Kabul, where kidnappings have long been a security concern in the war-torn country and are usually carried out by criminal groups for financial gain.

Indian aid worker Judith D’Souza was snatched from the same district in the summer and later released and Katherine Wilson, an Australian aid worker, was abducted in March. Both were released with few details being made public about the cases.

An American and an Australian who work at the American University of Afghanistan have been held by kidnappers since August.

The Australian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Kabul was making urgent inquiries about the latest case. “We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Afghanistan because of the extremely dangerous security situation, including the serious threat of kidnapping,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this year, the Interior Ministry launched nationwide operation and arrested around 300 alleged gangsters in a bid to halt a rise in abductions.