Thu, 02:48 13 Mar 2008 GMT17

 

FACTBOX-Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
27 Feb 2008 12:09:40 GMT
Source: Reuters
Feb 27 (Reuters) - An American woman aid worker and her local driver who were abducted in Afghanistan may have been killed, foreign groups said.

Cyd Mizell, 49, an employee of the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF) and her driver, were kidnapped last month. Following are details of reported kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan since 2006.

* March 2006 - Taliban insurgents say they killed four hostages and dumped their bodies in the Kandahar-Helmand area in southern Afghanistan. The four were abducted on March 11. An official at the Ecolog services company in Kabul says the four hostages, all from Macedonia, are its employees.

* April 2006 - An Indian engineer, identified as K. Suryanarayan, is found beheaded on April 30 not far from where he was kidnapped near the main road between Qalat and Ghazni. The Taliban claim responsibility.

* October 2006 - Gabriele Torsello, a London-based photojournalist who is a Muslim, is kidnapped on Oct. 12 by gunmen after he left by bus from Lashkar-Gah, capital of Helmand province in the south. He is released unharmed on Nov. 3.

* March 2007 - The Taliban capture Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica and two Afghans in Helmand province. He is handed over to the Italian embassy on March 19 but his Afghan driver is beheaded and his translator is killed on April 8.

* April 2007 - The Taliban say they have kidnapped Eric Damfreville, a Frenchman, working for the Terre d'Enfance aid organisation, his local driver and two other Afghans in Nimroz province. He is released on May 11. A female French hostage who also worked for Terre d'Enfance is released in late April by the Taliban after three weeks in captivity.

* July 2007 - Two German engineers are kidnapped by the Taliban while travelling in Wardak province, southwest of the capital, Kabul. One German is killed, apparently by his captors. The Taliban later say the other German is being held along with four Afghans. In October, Taliban militants allow an interview with the German engineer, identified in the report as Rudolf Blechschmidt. He is freed on Oct. 10.

* July 2007 - A group of 23 South Koreans from a church organisation in Bundang, outside Seoul, is kidnapped from a bus travelling from Kabul to Kandahar. On July 25, a church pastor leading the group is shot dead. Five days later another male South Korean hostage is shot. Two other female captives are freed as a goodwill gesture during talks.

-- On Aug. 27 the Taliban agree to release the hostages after South Korea agrees to certain conditions. The remaining hostages are all freed by Aug 30.

* Sept 2007 - Two Italian military intelligence officers kidnapped are freed during a raid by NATO-led troops in which nine kidnappers and an Afghan hostage are killed.

-- Taliban insurgents kidnap four members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the province of Wardak. The men, two Afghans, a Macedonian and a citizen of Myanmar are freed three days later on Sept 29.

Jan 2008 - Cyd Mizell, 49, an employee of the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF), and her driver are kidnapped by unidentified gunmen while heading to Kandahar. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

-- ARLDF said on Wednesday on its Web site that it could not confirm their deaths but they have received information indicating that the two aid workers have been killed. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
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