US security contractor kidnapped in Afghanistan

A US security contractor has been kidnapped in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province amid a record surge in violent attacks across the war-ravaged Asian country. 

An Afghan security official with knowledge of the incident told media outlets on Thursday that the former US Navy member had been working as a contractor when he was abducted last week in the troubled province near the Pakistani border. 

The US State Department said it was aware of reports of the kidnapping. 

Amrullah Saleh, former spy chief of Afghanistan, was quick to blame the militants, saying on Twitter the abduction had been orchestrated by "the Taliban & their Pakistani backers.  Kidnapping must end & end without ransom". 

The kidnapping of Afghans and foreigners for ransom is common across Afghanistan where swathes of the country are infested with criminal gangs or militant groups. 

The Taliban have also a history of kidnapping Americans their western colleague in Afghanistan. 

In November last year, the Taliban handed two Western hostages over to US forces in southern Afghanistan in a swap for three high-ranking insurgent prisoners. 

The exchange of American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks for the militants was widely believed to be instrumental in kick-starting stalled talks between the two sides. 

The Taliban later described the exchange as "a step forward in good-will and confidence-building measures that can aid the peace process". 

US bombing of Afghanistan hit 10-year high in 2019

The number of bombs dropped by the United States on Afghanistan in 2019 was the highest figure recorded in at least a decade, according to the US Air Force.

Attacks dropped early last year but picked up again after US President Donald Trump called off talks with the Taliban near Washington after an American officer was killed in Afghanistan. 

The Taliban and the US had been negotiating the deal for a year and were on the brink of an announcement in September 2019, when Trump abruptly declared the process “dead.” 

Talks restarted in Qatar later last December, but were suspended again following an attack near the Bagram military base in Afghanistan, which is run by the US.  

Violent assaults in Afghanistan have meanwhile been raging, with the number of clashes jumping to record levels in the last quarter of last year. 

Violent attacks in Afghanistan surged to record levels in late 2019: US report

A US government agency says attacks in Afghanistan surged to record levels in the last quarter of 2019.

In addition, Pakistan and Afghanistan also regularly accuse each other of sheltering militants. 

Islamabad has helped facilitate the talks between the Afghan Taliban and Washington in Doha. Pakistan was also one of the only three countries to recognize a Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001. 

But insecurity has spiked, and US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.

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