Afghan kidnappers are thieves not Taliban, claims official

Three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan are in the hands of criminals, not the Taliban-linked militants who have threatened to kill them, an Afghan official said today.

Annetta Flanigan, from Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, Philippine diplomat Angelito Nayan and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo were seized at gunpoint on October 28 in Kabul after helping organise the country’s presidential election.