[Female] Brit Aid Worker [and three local staff] Taken Hostage In Afghanistan

[Turborama]

Source: Sky News

A female British aid worker and three local staff have been taken hostage in northeastern Afghanistan. They were travelling in a convoy of two vehicles that were attacked by insurgents in Kunar Province.

Local police say they chased after the kidnappers and were engaged in a brief gunfight near the scene of the ambush before the men escaped.

The Briton, who was working for US aid contractors Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) and is thought to have been with the UN before that, has not been identified.

Washington DC-based DAI has offices around the world, including in London. The Foreign Office has confirmed a UK citizen is missing in Afghanistan.

Read more: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Foreign-Office-Confirms-A-British-Woman---An-Aid-Worker---Has-Been-Taken-Hostage-In-Afghanistan/Article/201009415744304?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15744304_Foreign_Office_Confirms_A_Briti

[Turborama]

1. Updates from The Guardian & The Telegraph

Afghanistan: gunmen kidnap Briton and three co-workers
British woman and Afghan colleagues part of convoy intercepted by insurgents in Kunar province

Jon Boone in Kabul and James Meikle
guardian.co.uk, Sunday September 26 2010 22.18 BST

=snip=

Kunar police chief Khalilullah Ziayee said the party had been travelling from Asadabad, the capital of Kunar, to Jalalabad in the south. The party intended to visit a canal that had been built by DAI, which implements projects for USAID.

The British woman was in a car with two Afghans, one of whom was acting as a guard, the other driving the Toyota Corolla they were travelling in. In areas where security is poor, foreign nationals will often opt to travel in more ordinary looking vehicles rather than four wheel drives, as they are thought to be lower profile.

Ziayee said the woman was wearing a burqa when the party was last seen at around 10.30am travelling through the district of Chowki. He said that she was "kidnapped by the opposition" after a brief fight with local police, who gave chase into the mountains.

An official with the Kunar criminal investigation unit said local insurgents were responsible, led by a man called Mullah Basir and an associate called Qari Ruhullah. At midday, a group of 12 senior elders from the area were sent into the area where the hostages were believed to be to try to secure their release.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/26/afghanistan-gunmen-briton-kidnap

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Taliban demand prisoner swap for kidnapped British aid worker
Taliban militants are holding the British woman kidnapped in Afghanistan and want to exchange her for a female Pakistani scientist jailed last week in America, it has been reported.

By Ben Farmer in Kabul
Published: 7:50AM BST Sep 27 2010

A local Taliban commander named Mohammad Osman said he had kidnapped the woman and her Afghan colleagues in Kunar province on Sunday.
He told an Afghan press agency with close ties to the Taliban that he was demanding an exchange for Aafia Siddiqui.

Siddiqui, a 38-year-old neuroscientist, was jailed last week by a New York court for 86 years for the attempted murder of US agents and soldiers who were trying to interrogate her in Afghanistan.

Mohammad Osman told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), based in Peshawar in northeastern Pakistan: “We are lucky that we abducted this British woman soon after the ruthless ruling by an American court on Aafia Siddiqui. We will demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for her.”

=snip=

The AIP frequently carries interviews and statements from senior insurgent figures and is considered to be have close links to the Taliban.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/afghanistan/8027030/Taliban-demand-prisoner-swap-for-kidnapped-British-aid-worker.html

[sabrina 1]

2. So this woman got 86 years for 'attempted murder'

of interrogators. I wonder how long the soldiers who murdered Afghan civilians 'for sport' will get?

I doubt any exchange will be made. It just keeps getting worse ...

[Turborama]

3. The Guardian: US special forces join search for British woman kidnapped in Afghanistan

US steps up effort to find British aid worker snatched on Sunday along with her Afghan co-workers

James Meikle and Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday 27 September 2010 20.56 BST

US special forces are understood to have joined the hunt for a British aid worker who was kidnapped with three colleagues in north-eastern Afghanistan on Sunday.

=snip=

The Briton, who is in her 30s and from Scotland, is an experienced aid worker and is employed by an American company contracted by the US government's aid agency.

Although the woman's parents said they had been advised by the Foreign Office in London not to speak to the media, a family friend said the news had shocked the community. "The woman who has been kidnapped was born and grew up here and went to the local primary school," said the friend.

"She is very quiet and calm and – though it must be impossible to imagine what she and her family are going through – is likely to keep her cool. She has been doing aid projects for a great number of years and only comes back here once in a while." There have been conflicting reports emerging from Pakistan over whether the Taliban had claimed involvement in the abduction of the group.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/27/afghanistan-british-aid-worker