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Japanese aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-26 14:34

TOKYO -- A Japanese aid worker was kidnapped Tuesday morning in eastern Afghanistan, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said the man was a member of an aid group called Peshawar-kai, which runs medical clinics in the region. A ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tokyo had set up a task force at its embassy in Kabul to gather information.

News reports identified the man as Kazuya Ito, 31, from Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, and said he had been kidnapped near the city of Jalalabad. The Foreign Ministry refused to confirm the identity of the worker.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said there was no immediate ransom demand.

Kyodo News agency said Peshawar-kai had not been able to reach Ito on his mobile phone. The group could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Asahi daily newspaper said that Ito had been kidnapped along with his driver.

Afghanistan has been the site of increasingly violent conflicts in recent months. The Foreign Ministry said the kidnapping would be the first of a Japanese citizen in Afghanistan.

Kyodo said Peshawar-kai was established in 1983 in support of the activities of a doctor who runs clinics in Pakistan and Afghanistan.