Fears for abducted US aid worker

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A US aid worker and her Afghan driver, kidnapped a month ago, are feared dead, a statement from their employer says.

Cyd Mizell and her driver, Abdul Hadi, were abducted from the city of Kandahar on 26 January by unidentified gunmen.

The Asian Rural Life Development Fund (ARLDF), which employed them, says it had recently received information that "indicates the two have been killed".

The US embassy in Kabul said it had no information. No group has said it carried out the abductions.

Kidnappings are common in Afghanistan, although the abduction of foreigners is quite rare.

'No confirmation'

Ms Mizell, 50, worked on aid projects for ARLDF, a Philippines-based organisation.

"We are deeply grieved to report the apparent deaths of Muhammad Hadi and Cyd Mizell, workers who were kidnapped by gunmen on 26 January in Kandahar, Afghanistan," the charity said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.

"Although we have no confirmation of their deaths, we have received information over the past few days indicating that our two aid workers have been killed," the statement added.

A few days after Ms Mizell was kidnapped, some 500 to 600 women, many wearing the burqa, gathered in a wedding hall for prayers and speeches calling on government officials to work for the captives' release.

The director of the Kandahar Women's Association, Rona Tareen, urged Ms Mizell's captors to free her at once, saying she had helped many local women find jobs and market their embroidery work.

Ms Mizell had been living in Kandahar for three years, teaching English and embroidery at local schools.

Last year Taleban rebels kidnapped 23 South Korean Christian workers and two German engineers. Two of the Koreans and one of the Germans were killed.