U.S. embassy in Kabul warns of kidnap threat

The United States embassy in Kabul issued an emergency security warning to U.S. citizens on Thursday after an attempted kidnapping of an American and a number of other foreigners in the Afghan capital earlier in the week.

The warning, posted on the U.S. embassy website, said that an attempt to kidnap several expatriates, including a U.S. citizen, was made on Monday and it said that the threat of kidnapping and hostage-taking was high.

The warning came days after an Australian aid worker was kidnapped in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

Kidnapping and abduction for ransom has been a regular occurrence in Afghanistan, with both Afghans and foreign nationals targeted.

Last month, there was widespread outrage and protests after reports of the discovery of the murdered body of a teenaged boy who had been kidnapped in Kabul earlier.