Gunmen kidnap two foreigners in Kabul

Gunmen wearing police uniforms kidnapped an American and an Australian in the heart of Kabul, officials said on Monday, the latest in a series of abductions of foreigners in the conflict-torn country.

The two professors at the American University of Afghanistan were seized from their vehicle on Sunday evening, as the kidnappers smashed the passenger window and hauled them away at gunpoint.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the abductions, which come three days after a group of foreign tourists were ambushed by the Taliban in western Herat province, underscoring the growing insecurity in Afghanistan.

“Two foreign professors, one American and the other Australian, were abducted at gunpoint from Dar-ul-Aman road in the centre of Kabul city,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.

“Indications are that they were kidnapped by a criminal group.” The driver and a guard inside the vehicle, both unharmed, have been held for questioning, another security official told AFP.

Four gunmen wearing police uniforms were involved in the abduction, according to a Western official in Kabul. The Afghan capital is infested with organised criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, and sometimes handing them over to insurgent groups. The US State Department said it was aware of reports of the kidnapping of an American but declined to comment further.

The Australian government confirmed the “apparent kidnapping” of one its citizens, citing its embassy in Kabul.