Skip to main content
Latest news
Thumbnail

Kabul police chief Hassan Shah Frogh on Monday said Taliban insurgents had plotted and carried out Saturday night’s attack on a guesthouse in PD7 in Kabul, which resulted in the death of two people and the kidnapping of a Finnish woman.  

The statement comes two days after unknown gunmen carried out a raid on the guesthouse in PD7 in Darulaman Road area, killing a security guard and a German woman.

A second woman, a Finnish national, was kidnapped, officials said Sunday.

The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed the kidnapping on Sunday to Finnish media, saying in a statement it demanded “the immediate release of the kidnapped person”.

According to Frogh, security agencies had offered the foreign nationals living in the house security, but they had rejected the offer.

He said that police have launched a major investigation into the incident to find out the motive behind it.

“There is a possibility that the Taliban plotted the attack, but why would they (Taliban) resort to such actions, it is clear whenever they suffer major casualties or their commanders and high profile officials are arrested, then the Taliban resort to such action. They resort to kidnapping of individuals so as to swap them as we witnessed in the past,” said Frogh.

The women had been working for a Swedish NGO Operation Mercy – an organization that has been in Afghanistan since 2006.

According to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Operation Mercy spent more than $800,000 USD in the country between 2011 and 2013 to help with basic health training in Afghanistan.

But, the public health ministry investigators say that Operation Mercy never reported on their classes to Afghan officials.

“The kidnapping and murders of foreign nationals have political aspects instead of criminal aspects,” said  Abdul Khaliq Zazai Watandost, a member of the Kabul provincial council.

However, the Taliban has not claimed responsibility for the attack nor has it commented on it.  

Kabul police chief says the foreigners living in the house had been offered protection but they had rejected this offer.

Thumbnail

Kabul police chief Hassan Shah Frogh on Monday said Taliban insurgents had plotted and carried out Saturday night’s attack on a guesthouse in PD7 in Kabul, which resulted in the death of two people and the kidnapping of a Finnish woman.  

The statement comes two days after unknown gunmen carried out a raid on the guesthouse in PD7 in Darulaman Road area, killing a security guard and a German woman.

A second woman, a Finnish national, was kidnapped, officials said Sunday.

The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed the kidnapping on Sunday to Finnish media, saying in a statement it demanded “the immediate release of the kidnapped person”.

According to Frogh, security agencies had offered the foreign nationals living in the house security, but they had rejected the offer.

He said that police have launched a major investigation into the incident to find out the motive behind it.

“There is a possibility that the Taliban plotted the attack, but why would they (Taliban) resort to such actions, it is clear whenever they suffer major casualties or their commanders and high profile officials are arrested, then the Taliban resort to such action. They resort to kidnapping of individuals so as to swap them as we witnessed in the past,” said Frogh.

The women had been working for a Swedish NGO Operation Mercy – an organization that has been in Afghanistan since 2006.

According to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Operation Mercy spent more than $800,000 USD in the country between 2011 and 2013 to help with basic health training in Afghanistan.

But, the public health ministry investigators say that Operation Mercy never reported on their classes to Afghan officials.

“The kidnapping and murders of foreign nationals have political aspects instead of criminal aspects,” said  Abdul Khaliq Zazai Watandost, a member of the Kabul provincial council.

However, the Taliban has not claimed responsibility for the attack nor has it commented on it.  

Share this post