Gunmen in army uniforms kidnap a second Australian in Kabul

An Australian and an American academic have been kidnapped by gunmen in Kabul.

A car passes the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.

An Australian and an American academic have been kidnapped by gunmen in Kabul, the second kidnapping of an Australian in Afghanistan this year.

The two worked at the American University of Afghanistan and were abducted on Sunday by gunmen dressed in Afghan army uniforms after they had left the campus, reports said yesterday.

The Department of Foreign Affair and Trade confirmed the kidnappings but urged caution about reporting the incident.

“The Australian embassy in Afghanistan has confirmed the apparent kidnapping of an Australian in Kabul, Afghanistan,” DFAT said in a statement to The Australian.

“Due to privacy and security considerations, we will not be commenting further. We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Afghanistan because of the extremely dangerous security situation, including the serious threat of kidnapping.”

In April, Australian aid worker Kerry Jane Wilson, 60, was kidnapped in the eastern city of Jalalabad. It is believed a criminal gang is holding her captive.

A foreign journalist working in Kabul told The Australian there had been a spate of kidnappings of Afghan businessmen in Kabul in recent months by organised crime gangs.

The journalist said foreigners were prime targets of these gangs.

“Apparently, they’re kidnapping syndicates,” the journalist said.

“The chances are very slim that it’s Taliban-related. There have been dozens of local businessmen who’ve been kidnapped in the last few months.”

She said foreigners living in Kabul had been repeatedly warned about the threat of kidnapping. “The NGOs (non-government organisations) don’t hire armed guards for their staff, and that’s why they’ve been a target to date, because the syndicates know that foreigners employed by NGOs are travelling without any armed guards,” she said.

Many of the compounds housing foreigners have gone into lockdown and while thousands of expats have left the city following the withdrawal of foreign forces, those who remain live in fear of abduction.

“You don’t see expats on the streets anymore,” the journalist said. “There are very few of them. You don’t see them in restaurants; you don’t see them anywhere. You run into the supermarket, you’re there for five minutes and you’re out of there again.”

The American University of Afghanistan is a private institution heavily funded by the US development arm USAID.

It was established in 2004 and is popular among the sons and daughters of Kabul’s elite.

The faculty includes a number of academics who have studied in Australia and New Zealand.

Last week, a bus containing foreign tourists, which was being escorted by an Afghan army convoy, was attacked by gunmen in the province of Herat.

A total of 12 tourists were on the bus and seven of them were injured when Taliban gunmen ­attacked the vehicle after it had left the province of Bamyan.