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Afghans Search for Abducted American

Posted Jan 27, 08 10:04 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – Afghan police are searching for an American aid worker and her driver kidnapped yesterday in Kandahar. Police have tightened security in the southern city, AFP reports, blocking traffic and questioning Afghans in the area where Cyd Mizell was seized. Nobody has claimed responsibility; a Taliban spokesman refused to say whether the militant group was involved.

Mizell works for a small Philippines-based charity devoted to economic development and teaches English and embroidery. She has lived in the Kandahar area for three years despite its reputation as a dangerous locus of Taliban activity. In recent months the Taliban has targeted aid workers in an effort to destabilize Afghanistan, and many foreign workers have been killed and kidnapped, but Mizell is the first American taken hostage.

Sources AFP, Associated Press

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An Afghan man passes by a police check point in Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. Afghan police tightened security in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday as officials...   (Associated Press)
This undated photo released by the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation shows Cyd Mizell, a kidnapped American aid worker, who was kidnapped on Jan 26, 2008. Gunmen kidnapped a burqa-clad American...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan gardener working on the green at the compound of the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation office in Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. Afghan police tightened...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan policeman stands guard as others check incoming traffic at a check point in Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. Afghan police tightened security in the southern...   (Associated Press)
This undated photo released by the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation shows Afghan driver Abdul Hadi who was kidnapped along with American aid worker Cyd Mizell on Jan 26, 2008. Gunmen kidnapped...   (Associated Press)
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Afghanistan • Taliban • kidnapping • hostage • Kandahar • aid workers • Cyd Mizell


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