U.S. embassy in Kabul warns of kidnap threat

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States embassy in Kabul issued an emergency security warning to U.S. citizens on Thursday after an attempted kidnapping of an American and a number of other foreigners in the Afghan capital earlier in the week. The warning, posted on the U.S. embassy website, said that an attempt to kidnap several expatriates, including a U.S. citizen, was made on Monday and it said that the threat of kidnapping and hostage-taking was high. The warning came days after an Australian aid worker was kidnapped in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. Kidnapping and abduction for ransom has been a regular occurrence in Afghanistan, with both Afghans and foreign nationals targeted. Last month, there was widespread outrage and protests after reports of the discovery of the murdered body of a teenaged boy who had been kidnapped in Kabul earlier. (Reporting by James Mackenzie)