By DPA
Kabul : A German journalist and two Afghans were kidnapped in Afghanistan's Kunar province Wednesday, one week after two German engineers were taken hostage, local officials said.
The governor of the province confirmed the kidnapping of the German journalist.
Government spokesman Ahmad Mukhar Ajmal told DPA that a five-member delegation sent to the village of Sangar to investigate reports of the German's disappearance confirmed that the reporter of German weekly Stern and two Afghans were kidnapped.
The delegation and villagers were trying to secure their release.
The Taliban have not claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
In Germany, a spokesman of the magazine expressed "great concern" about their reporter Christoph Reuter who was on assignment in Afghanistan.
"We are very worried about Christoph Reuter and are trying to establish contact with him," the spokesman said in Berlin.
He was in the area reportedly to look into claims that 27 civilians were killed there in a recent NATO air strike.
Earlier, Kunar Governor Shalezai Dedar told DPA that rebels were reported to have abducted the reporter and two assistants from a house at 1 a.m. in the village in Wadapur district.
Ajmal said it was unclear whether Taliban or criminal elements had abducted the three as both rebels and criminal gangs operate in the region.
It is believed that one of the abducted Afghans was an interpreter, but it is not clear who the second one was.
Kunar is one of the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan, and the region around Sangar is particularly unsafe, according to officials.
Governor Dedar said that journey by reporters into the region was "very naive."The authorities had not been informed of the journalist's trip in advance, he said, otherwise they would have offered protection and an escort.
Two German engineers and four Afghans were kidnapped in central Afghanistan last week. One of the Germans is still being held and was reportedly not well, while the other died in captivity. His body was due to be flown home Wednesday. The four Afghans are reportedly still alive.
The German government is continuing efforts to secure the release of the hostage.