Missing in Afghanistan

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has not ruled out the possibility that the two German nationals who have recently been reported missing in Afghanistan, have been kidnapped. He told reporters that there was an intensive search for them under way. "We are following up on indications that they may have been the victims of a kidnapping."

The Afghan government says there is still no trace of the two men who went missing on August 19 near the Salang Pass in the Afghan province of Parwan. Roshana Khalid, spokesperson for the local government, said in a statement that the two men had gone to the area either to work or to develop a program for hikers and that a search involving the secret service and Afghan police is underway. "We have questioned nomads in the region for clues that can point us in the right direction."

Taliban denies link

The Afghan Ministry of the Interior has confirmed the disappearance, though it has also said there is no way of telling whether or not the two have been abducted. The Taliban has denied all links to the disappearance.

The governor of Parwan province, Abdul Basir Salangi, said he suspected the men may have been kidnapped by Kuchi nomads. "There are some Kuchi people present in the area in which the two Germans disappeared," he said. "We suspect that these Germans have been kidnapped. We have detained a number of Kuchi men on suspicion of this."

It was the driver of the two who reported their disappearance when they did not show up at the designated pick-up time. Khalid says the driver became worried and filed a report with the local secret service. "He was questioned and released after it became clear that he was not involved in the case."

'Abduction industry'

Parwan, which is located north of Kabul, is a relatively safe region not known to be a Taliban stronghold. It is one of the regions planned to soon be handed over to Afghan security forces. Yet just two weeks ago, a group of suicide bombers surprisingly attacked provincial governor’s estate. A total of 20 people died in the ensuing violence that lasted for three hours. The governor survived.

Dozens of foreigners have been taken captive in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power, sparking a deadly insurgency, but most have been released unharmed, often after the payment of a ransom. Since 2007, kidnappings have become so common that people often speak of the Afghan abduction industry. It is often unclear whether the kidnappings take place for financial reasons as many of them are carried out on the pretense of political demands. And then there is the Taliban, who demand a withdrawal of foreign troops and need to fill their coffers for their violent campaigns.

Author: Kai Küstner / Sarah Berning
Editor: Shamil Shams