After release of Christina Meier, an aid worker with the German-based nondenominational Christian relief organization Ora International, the Afghan police have said that the kidnappers were not Taliban as was earlier feared, but criminals. They had made a demand of one million dollars. One of them was a dangerous convict who had escaped from prison in northern Afghanistan.
The kidnapping of the German aid worker has emphasized the disturbing fact that Afghanistan is going downhill securitywise. Kidnapping is becoming a big business in the country. The prevailing lawlessness is providing fertile ground for criminals out to make fast buck to flourish. This scenario has been seen earlier in Lebanon during the 1980s, and more recently has been an issue in Iraq, Colombia and the Philippines.
Sometimes the criminals do the kidnappings and make money by turning over the victims to militants like Taliban for a price. Often the Islamist militants kidnap foreign aid workers, soft targets which yield big ransoms, to finance themselves and not for political motives.
A new factor of rising criminality has been added to the security scenario in Afghanistan, already reeling from the threat from Taliban. Foreign NGO personnel had hitherto felt secure in Kabul and had even brought their families to the country. Taliban have generally avoided taking hostages from Kabul and urban areas. They have preferred to act in remote areas of Afghanistan, familiar to them. But the threat from criminals has made Kabul vulnerable to kidnappings.
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