Italian aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan

An Italian woman aid worker was kidnapped yesterday in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, security and United Nations officials said yesterday.

A senior official at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome identified the woman as Clementina Cantoni from Lombardy. She works for the CARE International aid agency, officials in Kabul said.

Ms Cantoni was seized near a park at about 8.30 p.m. (1600 GMT) after the vehicle she was travelling in was blocked by another car, Italy's ANSA news agency said, citing the Italian ambassador in Kabul, Ettore Sequi.

"We don't know who kidnapped her or why," said an Afghan security official, who declined to be identified.

Three UN workers were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed.

The abductions shocked the 2,000-strong foreign community in Kabul and raised fears of a wave of Iraq-style kidnappings.

Ms Cantoni was travelling with two other people when their vehicle was intercepted and stopped but the others managed to escape, ANSA said.