Afghan Deputy Minister Kidnapped In Kabul

April 15, 2014

An Afghan deputy minister has been abducted in Kabul. 

Officials said Ahmad Shah Wahid, the deputy public works minister, was on his way to work on April 15 when he was attacked by unknown gunmen.

A spokesman for the Public Works Ministry, Soheil Kakar, said Wahid's driver was shot and wounded in the incident. 

Gul Agha Hashemi, the head of the criminal investigation department of Kabul police, said the attackers ran Wahid's car off the road and then hustled him into their own vehicle.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the abduction. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said they had no knowledge of Wahid's kidnapping.

Kidnappings for ransom and abductions by the Taliban are relatively common in Afghanistan, but Wahid is believed to be the highest-level Afghan official abducted in years. 

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa