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Two killed, one kidnapped in Afghan capital Kabul

by Reuters
Sunday, 21 May 2017 08:48 GMT

An Afghan boy rides his bicycle in front of a house, where a German aid worker and an Afghan guard were killed last night, in Kabul, Afghanistan May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Image Caption and Rights Information

A German aid worker and an Afghan guard working for Swedish aid group Operation Mercy were killed and a Finnish national was abducted from a house in Kabul l

(Adds details on nationalities)

KABUL, May 21 (Reuters) - A German aid worker and an Afghan guard were killed and a Finnish national was abducted from a house in Kabul late on Saturday, an interior ministry spokesman said.

The three were working for a Swedish aid group called Operation Mercy, spokesman Najib Danish said on Sunday.

An investigation was being conducted into the incident, which occurred at around 11.30 p.m. (1900 GMT), he said but gave no further details.

The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed that a Finnish national had been kidnapped in Afghanistan but had no further comment. There was no immediate comment from the German foreign ministry.

Kidnapping is a longstanding problem in Afghanistan, mainly affecting Afghans abducted for ransom. However foreigners have also regularly been targeted, either for ransom or to put pressure on their governments.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni, Tuomas Forsell in HELSINKI, Madeline Chambers in BERLIN; writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Stephen Coates)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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