Italian Woman Kidnapped In Kabul

[David]

AP


Armed men kidnapped an Italian woman working for an international relief agency in the center of the Afghan capital on Monday, officials said.

Four men forced the woman into a white Toyota sedan in Kabul's Shahr-e-Naw district at about 9 p.m. (1630 GMT), Gen. Mahboubullah Amiri, a senior official in the Afghan Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press.

Amiri said he thought the woman was Canadian. But the head of the woman's agency and an Italian diplomat said she was an Italian citizen.

"I can confirm an Italian woman has been kidnapped," said Carlo Batori, a diplomat from the Italian Embassy in Kabul. He didn't give further details.

The head of one of the largest international aid agencies working in Afghanistan said the woman was an Italian employee. He spoke on condition that neither he nor the agency were identified. He also didn't give the woman's name.

The abduction follows a string of warnings to foreigners living in Kabul that they could be targeted in attacks, including kidnappings.

A suicide attack on an Internet cafe on May 7 killed a U.N. worker from Myanmar.