Kidnapped UN staff member and son released in Afghanistan

A member of the United Nations staff working in Kabul and her son, who were kidnapped in January, have been released, the UN's mission in Afghanistan said on Thursday, expressing outrage at the death of her driver during the abduction.

The woman, an Afghan national, went missing on January 22 with her young son after their car was stopped by unknown assailants. The body of her driver, also an Afghan national, was retrieved in March.

"We condemn the shameful abduction and what appears to be the deliberate murder of one of our colleagues," said Ingrid Hayden, the secretary-general's deputy special representative for Afghanistan and acting head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Kidnapping, mainly for ransom targeting Afghans, has become a chronic problem in Kabul and other cities, although several foreigners have also been abducted in recent years.