Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 5, 2016
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has issued a security warning to U.S. citizens after an attempted kidnapping of an American and a number of foreigners in the Afghan capital earlier in the week.
Posted on the U.S. Embassy’s website, the warning said that an attempt to kidnap several expatriates, including a U.S. citizen, was made on May 2 and it said that the threat of kidnapping and hostage-taking was high.
The warning came days after an Australian aid worker was kidnapped in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.
Kidnappings and abductions for ransom are common in Afghanistan, with both Afghans and foreign nationals targeted.
Last month, there was widespread outrage and protests after reports of the discovery of the body of a teenage boy who had been kidnapped in Kabul.
Based on reporting by Reuters