October 28, 2004

3 Hostages Taken in Afghanistan, Two More Missing

Three of the hostages are UN workers. The Guardian identifies the victims as "Annette Flanagan, from Richhill, Co Armagh, who has dual British-Irish citizenship, Angelito Nayan, a junior Filipina diplomat seconded to the UN, and a woman from the Balkans."

Two cameramen have also gone missing in Afghanistan in recent days. Najibullah Quraishi and Aslamouddin Mael were both cameramen working on a documentary in the country.

The NZ Herald reports that following the kidnapping of the Western election workers:

A massive manhunt was immediately launched throughout Kabul, with NATO helicopters hovering above the city and roadblocks set up. One British UN official said: "After the election went so peacefully foreigners here became complacent. First of all there was the suicide bomb attack, now this."

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 09:43 PM | |