KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Islamic militants claim they are holding three foreign election workers kidnapped Thursday from a U.N. vehicle in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Two women, a British-Irish national and a Kosovo Albanian, and a Filipino were forced from the vehicle at gunpoint, the BBC reported. The three were working with the joint U.N.-Afghan electoral commission in Kabul.
Witnesses said at least three kidnappers, wearing camouflage and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, forced the hostages into another vehicle and drove away.
A Taliban-linked group calling itself the Army of Muslims contacted the BBC in Pakistan and claimed to be holding the three outside Kabul. Their motive remained unclear and they made no demands.
Afghan police set up roadblocks and helicopters were circling the city in the search for the kidnappers' hideout.
It was the first kidnapping of foreigners in broad daylight in Afghanistan, and sparked fears that militants may be copying tactics used in Iraq by targeting foreign workers.
