By KUNA
Kabul : Police and personnel of other security agencies are combing areas in and around the city of Kandahar, capital of the province of Kandahar, to recover an American woman kidnapped by unidentified gunmen outside the city Saturday.
Officials in the province blamed Taliban militants for the abduction, but the insurgents did not claim responsibility for the kidnapping.
Police chief in Kandahar province, the former stronghold of the anti-government Taliban militants, Sayed Aqa Saqib said the police force was alerted and personnel had been asked to keep vigil on vehicles going out or entering the city.
He said involvement of criminal gangs is not ruled out.
Kidnappings of foreigners and huge sums paid for their release in recent months have encouraged and emboldened many involved in petty crimes to turn to abductions.
According to locals, a gang of criminals, not Taliban militants, were involved in last year’s kidnapping of two German nationals in the central province of Maidan Wardak, some 50 kilometres south of Kabul.
One German was killed while the other was later freed for a ransom.
The Afghan government had earlier asked all foreigners not to go out of the central capital Kabul or other big cities without informing the security agencies.