Gunmen have abducted a Spanish employee of the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a series of kidnappings of foreigners in the conflict-torn country. The abduction occurred on Monday when workers of the international charity were travelling in two vehicles from Mazar-e-Sharif city to the volatile Taliban hotbed of Kunduz.
"One male colleague was taken. The rest were let go," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. "We're extremely concerned for the safety of our colleague. We're doing our best to discover what precisely happened, and to secure his safe and unconditional release as quickly as possible." A diplomatic source in Madrid confirmed he was a Spanish national. "We can say that a Spanish Red Cross worker is being held against his will in the north of Afghanistan", the source told AFP, without offering other details.