Unconfirmed report of Cdn Kidnapped in Wardak

[jollyjacktar]

Hope for whomever it's not true.

Canada looks into report of kidnapping in Afghanistan
Unconfirmed report of Canadian man, American woman kidnapped in Wardak
CBC News Posted: Oct 12, 2012 1:11 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 12, 2012 1:45 PM ET 
The federal government says it is looking into a report that a Canadian was kidnapped in Afghanistan.

An unconfirmed report from the country says a Canadian man and an American woman were kidnapped in Wardak province.

"We are aware of reports of an alleged kidnapping in Afghanistan," said a spokeswoman for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs. "We are pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and are in close contact with Afghan authorities."

Citing an unamed Afghan government official, the PakTribune.com website in Pakistan reported that two foreigners were taken from a car that was travelling from the southern Ghazni province to the capital of Kabul.

The website also reported that an unnamed Taliban commander confirmed the abduction, but did not give any further details.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/10/12/pol-afghanistan-rumoured-kidnapping.html

 

[The Bread Guy]

Here's the PakTribune.com version:

Two foreign citizens were kidnapped by armed insurgents on their way from southern Ghazni province to the central capital Kabul, an official said on Thursday.

A government official based in Maidan Wardak province confided to PAN the foreigners -- a man and a woman -- were travelling in a car that went missing in the Shashgaw area on the Kabul-Ghazni highway. A resident of the area said on condition of anonymity that the kidnap victims were an American woman and a Canadian man. They were seized by the Taliban between Shashgaw and Salar areas of Syedabad district on Wednesday.

A Taliban commander in Syedabad, meanwhile, confirmed the abduction of the foreigners by the fighters. However, he refused to give details. Ghazni Public Health Director Baz M. Himmat said the body of a woman was brought to the civil hospital by Afghan soldiers. The woman was mysteriously killed and her body founded on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, he said. The 25-years-old victim, wearing Afghan dress, could not be identified.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Italian media (here in Google English) say the reportedly missing folks are members of an unnamed NGO - as of this post, nothing on the Taliban's English-language page about, say, "spies" being "arrested" in Wardak.

 

[The Bread Guy]

A bit more detail from the Reuters wire service (highlights mine):

Two foreigners, thought to be a Canadian and a U.S. citizen, were reported missing on Saturday by a provincial reconstruction team in volatile Wardak, west of Kabul, and were feared to have been kidnapped, Afghan police said.

Rumours of the abduction of a man and a woman by either insurgents or criminal gangs have circulated for several days, but U.S. and Canadian diplomats said they were unaware of anyone reported missing.

"According to the Provincial Reconstruction Team report they had planned to travel from Kabul to Wardak," Wardak police spokesman Wali Mohammad told Reuters.

"The missing foreigners were in contact until they reached the Kampany area on Kabul's outskirts. After that they lost contact," Mohammad said.

"We have information they may have been kidnapped."

(....)

A U.S. embassy spokesman in Kabul late on Friday said there was no information on a missing American, but diplomatic officials are often reluctant to talk about kidnappings in hope it could smooth the way for negotiations on a release.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs said it was looking into the reports, but gave no confirmation of a missing citizen ....

There's a PRT operated by the Turks in Wardak - more on the operation here.

Also, still no posted claims of responsibility at the Taliban's English-language web site as of this post.

 

[Sigs Pig]

milnews, your Reuters link broke.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE89C03T20121013

ME