Unknown gunmen in police uniforms have kidnapped a female foreigner in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.
Details are sketchy, but the Nangarhar province police chief, Zarawar Zahid, told VOA the woman is an Australian national who worked for Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR). However, that group later denied that the person kidnapped works for DACAAR or its sponsoring organization, the Danish Refugee Council.
Local sources say she recently arrived from Kabul and was staying at Spinghar hotel while working with DACAAR-supported local NGO Zardozi.
Wednesday night, she decided to stay with her local colleagues in the Zardozi compound in a part of Jalalabad called Angoor Bagh.
Early Thursday, gunmen entered the compound and kidnapped her. No one has claimed responsibility.
This is the second kidnapping in Jalalabad in the past two months. Gunmen had kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's chief justice, but security forces later rescued him.
Kidnappings for ransom is considered one of the highest risks for foreigners working in Afghanistan.
