Australian woman reportedly kidnapped in Afghanistan's capital Kabul

Updated

An Australian woman working for a non-governmental organisation in Afghanistan has been reported kidnapped in the capital Kabul on Saturday (local time), officials said.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the embassy in Kabul was making urgent enquiries.

An Afghan television station said on Sunday the woman was abducted at gunpoint in the Qala-i-Fatullah area in the centre of the city.

Kidnapping has long been a major problem in Afghanistan, affecting Afghans more often than foreigners, with ransom often the motive.

However, there have been several abductions of foreign aid workers, including at least two Australians this year alone.

Kerry Jane Wilson, who was abducted from the office of a charity in the eastern city of Jalalabad in April, was freed in August.

Another Australian, working as a teacher at the American University in Kabul, was kidnapped with an American colleague in August.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, afghanistan

First posted</s>"The Australian Embassy in Kabul is making urgent enquiries into reports an Australian has been kidnapped in Kabul," a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said in an emailed statement on Sunday. "Due to the nature of the incident we will not be commenting further."

Afghan television station Tolo News said on Sunday the Australian woman was abducted at gunpoint in the Qala-i-Fatullah area in the center of the city.

Kidnapping has long been a major problem in Afghanistan, affecting Afghans more often than foreigners, with ransom often the motive.

However, there have been several abductions of foreign aid workers, including at least two Australians this year alone.

Kerry Jane Wilson, who was abducted from the office of a charity in the eastern city of Jalalabad in April, was freed in August. Another Australian, working as a teacher at the American University in Kabul, was kidnapped with an American colleague in August.</s>Australia’s government says it is trying to confirm reports that one of its nationals has been kidnapped in Afghanistan, the latest in a series of reported abductions involving foreign aid workers.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said on November 6 that the Australian embassy in Kabul was making “urgent enquiries into reports an Australian has been kidnapped in Kabul.” It did not provide further details.

Afghanistan’s Tolo TV reported on November 6 that an Australian woman thought to be working for a nongovernmental aid group was abducted at gunpoint in the Qala-e Fatullah area of central Kabul.

There have been several abductions of foreign aid workers recently, including at least two Australians this year.

Kerry Jane Wilson, who was kidnapped from the office of a charity in the eastern city of Jalalabad in April, was freed in August.

Another Australian, working as a teacher at the American University in Kabul, was kidnapped in August.

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.</s>The woman was seized in Kabul's Qala e Fatullah area area on Saturday evening as she was traveling by car with her driver, said Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul's police chief.

Police are investigating the abduction, said Mujahid.

He said the woman, who is an Australian citizen of Pakistani origin, works for the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR,) which describes itself as an Afghan independent body bringing together more than 150 national and international NGOs operating in the country.

The Australian Embassy in Kabul is making urgent inquiries into the reported kidnapping, a spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.

"Due to the nature of the incident we will not be commenting further," the statement said. "We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Afghanistan because of the extremely dangerous security situation, including the serious threat of kidnapping." Both Afghans and foreigners face the risk of abduction in Afghanistan, with two previous cases this year also involving Australians. An Australian aid worker was abducted from her home in Jalalabad in Afghanistan in April, but was freed in August. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said Kerry Jane Wilson was released after it conducted a special operation. An American and an Australian were also kidnapped from American University in Kabul in August. A rescue attempt by US Special Operations Forces from SEAL Team 6 failed when they were not found at the location targeted. In June, nearly 200 people were kidnapped by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunduz, police said. The majority were released but the fighters killed several people and kept around 20 hostage.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Unknown gunmen kidnapped a female Australian employee of a non-governmental organization in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghan police said Sunday.

Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, the Kabul city police chief, said that a Pakistani born- Australian woman was abducted on Saturday night.

Rahimi added that she was with her driver while she was taken away by gunmen. It is not clear what happened to her Afghan driver.

“We have had lots of developments in the abduction case … but right now I can’t share it with the media,” said Rahimi.

Another police official with the Kabul police chief’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said that she is more than 40 years old and works for the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief or ACBAR.

In Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement, that the embassy was making “urgent inquiries” into the issue.

The statement added, “We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Afghanistan because of the extremely dangerous security situation, including the serious threat of kidnapping.”

Earlier in April another Australian female aid worker was kidnapped in eastern Nangarhar province; she was released in August after nearly four months in captivity.
An Australian woman has reportedly been kidnapped in Kabul.