Australian academic and US colleague abducted in Kabul, say reports

Armed men have abducted an Australian academic and an American professor in the Afghan capital, according to media reports.

The pair worked at the American University of Afghanistan and were reportedly snatched by men disguised as National Security officers.

One report said both were doctors who worked at a Kabul hospital not far from where they were taken on Sunday night, Kabul time.

A spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Australian embassy in Afghanistan was seeking to verify reports of the kidnapping.

The US State Department is aware of the reports.

“We are aware of reports of a US citizen kidnapped in Kabul. Due to privacy considerations, we have no information to offer,” the department said in a media statement.

ABC America said Kabul’s police chief, Abdel Rahman Rahimi, had confirmed the abductions.

The university is a private, not-for-profit university, which has received millions of dollars from the US Agency for International Development.

Afghanistan remains locked in a violent insurgency and Western embassies typically warn their citizens against all but essential travel in the country, citing threats of attack and kidnapping.

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