French aid worker kidnapped in Kabul

Kabul, Nov 3 (Xinhua) Armed men abducted a French aid worker in the Afghan capital Monday and killed an Afghan who tried to stop the abductors, officials said.

'It occurred at around 9.10 a.m. when three gunmen kidnapped the French aid worker in the Kart-e-Parwan area of Kabul,' an interior ministry official told reporters without identifying the man.

'The aid worker is working for a French-based non-government organization,' he added.

'One local Afghan who happened to be on the spot while trying to prevent the kidnapping was shot dead by the kidnappers,' the official said.

With growing lawlessness, the war-ravaged country has seen an increase in the incidence of kidnapping, both by the Taliban insurgents and criminal gangs for ransom. The interior ministry has claimed having foiled many abduction attempts in and around the capital over the past months.