Italian CARE worker kidnapped in Afghanistan in Copy of Iraqi-Briton’s Abduction

An Italian humanitarian worker had been kidnapped in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday evening. The kidnapping of CARE worker Clementina Cantoni, 32, is the latest case in the wake of warnings from security agencies that foreigners in the country may be targeted in response to the arrest of a suspect for the kidnappings of three UN election workers last year.

According to local police, no one has yet been held responsibility for the kidnapping and demands for her release have not been claimed yet.

"Four men carrying Kalashnikovs bashed in the window of her car and took her away. They told the driver not to move or he would be shot," said Paul Barker, director of CARE. A statement calling for her release has been issued by CARE, one of the largest international aid groups in the country.

According to Barker, the driver had just dropped a former CARE employee at a house in the Shahr-e-Naw district downtown when the kidnappers cut off the vehicle and abducted the Italian at about 8:30pm. "The kidnappers then drove towards a nearby Christian cemetery."

Afghan authorities, including President Hamid Karzai, were quickly alerted to the kidnapping after the Canadian woman made a panicked call to Barker. "She made it safely into the house but heard the attackers banging on the car," he said.

It has been reported that a crisis unit in Rome was working on the case. They have handled abductions of Italians abroad in the past. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini was following the situation, according to the Italian foreign ministry.

This is the second kidnapping of a CARE worker. Margaret Hassan, the British director of CARE International in Iraq, was kidnapped and killed in Baghdad last October.

Main roads leading out of Kabul have been sealed off. Cars have been stopped and searched in the city centre. "Police are trying very hard to produce some good news," said Jamil Khan, head of the criminal investigation department for the city police.

Three U.N. workers from the Philippines, Northern Ireland and Kosovo were kidnapped at gunpoint in Kabul last October but were released unharmed after a month. Earlier this week, the 3,000 foreigners living in Kabul have been warned that they could be targeted in attacks and kidnappings in response to the recent arrest of a suspect. Cantoni has lived in Afghanistan since 2002.