Gunmen Kidnap French Aid Worker in Kabul

Gunmen have kidnapped a French aid worker in Kabul, security officials said today.

A driver for the Afghan national intelligence agency who tried to intervene was shot dead, according to police.

The French man was walking in the street in the west of the city when gunmen in a red Toyota saloon seized him, a police official told Reuters.

Another international worker in the group of foreigners targeted managed to escape.

The passing driver working for the National Directorate of Security intelligence agency was killed when he stopped and tried to prevent the abduction.

Kidnappings by criminal groups in Afghanistan have spiked in recent months because of the lucrative ransoms that are paid to free hostages.

The latest incident comes less than 10 days since a Briton and South African working for a courier company were shot dead in Kabul, and two weeks after Gayle Williams, a British aid worker, was killed in the city.

Afghanistan has seen record levels of violence this year as the hardline Islamist Taliban step up their campaign to overthrow the Western-backed Afghan government.

Taliban militants have kidnapped dozens of foreigners and hundreds of Afghans since they relaunched their insurgency three years ago.

Armed criminal bands have also abducted businessmen and wealthy Afghans for ransom. Most have been released unharmed, but some have been killed.