German and Afghan guard killed in Kabul guest house attack

KABUL: Gunmen have attacked an international guest house in Kabul, killing a German woman and an Afghan guard, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

A Finnish woman is missing and presumed to have been kidnapped in the raid late Saturday, officials added.

The guest house was run by a Swedish NGO Operation Mercy, whose director Scott Breslin told local news agency TT that the organisation is holding a crisis meeting.

"A Finnish lady was kidnapped from police district (three) last night at 11.30. A German lady and an Afghan guard were killed," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said on Twitter.

A Finnish foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that a Finnish citizen has been kidnapped in Kabul.

"We can confirm that we know about this but we are not giving details at the moment. The only thing we can say is it is not known who the kidnappers are," said spokeswoman Karoliina Romanoff.

Operation Mercy's Breslin told TT in a brief statement: "We know that she's missing, we will send out a press release later."

The attack highlights growing insecurity in Afghanistan, which is in the grip of an insurgency waged by the Taliban and other groups.

The kidnapping of foreigners has been on the rise, with criminal gangs staging abductions for ransom or handing the victims over to militant groups.

In August last year gunmen wearing military uniforms kidnapped two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in the heart of Kabul.

The two, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weekes, appeared in a Taliban hostage video that surfaced in January, the first apparent proof that they were alive.