Armed gang kidnaps Afghan female member of parliament

Afghan officials reported on Wednesday that an unknown armed group kidnapped a female Afghan member of parliament.

Fariba Ahmadi Kakar and her three children were abducted on Saturday in the central province of Ghazni on the main highway from Kandahar city leading to Kabul.

The police said that it released her children in an operation carried out on Monday, but added that it is still searching for her, giving no further details about the identity of the kidnappers.

Earlier, Kakar's family denied she had been taken hostage, with some relatives saying that she was in hospital.

Hostages in Afghanistan are often abducted by local criminal gangs who demand cash ransoms or prisoner exchanges for their release.

Women who play public roles in Afghanistan are frequently under threat, with many conservative Muslims against women working outside the home.

Last month, gunmen shot dead one of Afghanistan's most high-profile female police officers.