Japanese journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan

Kyodo News

A Japanese journalist has been kidnapped in Afghanistan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Friday.

"While I'm aware that he has been kidnapped, I want to refrain from commenting due to various humanitarian considerations," the top government spokesman said at a news conference.

Kosuke Tsuneoka, 40, has been missing since around Thursday, after heading to Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, the source said.

According to Twitter messages believed to have been posted by Tsuneoka, he was in Kabul on March 29 and entered a Taliban-controlled area in the early hours of Wednesday. Some messages included references to Tsuneoka's strong interest in the Taliban.

"We have heard rumors of a foreigner disappearing in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. However, the Taliban have no knowledge or involvement in it," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Kyodo News over the telephone.

The security chief of Kunduz, Abdul Rehman Aqtash, told Kyodo that no kidnappings had been reported in the last three days, although he had also heard rumors of the disappearance of a foreign national.

In his Twitter profile, Tsuneoka describes himself as a freelance journalist contributing reports to magazines, television and other media organizations.

A separate Web site carrying a profile of Tsuneoka indicates he is originally from Nagasaki Prefecture.

Responding to a telephone inquiry, a relative of Tsuneoka in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, said the family has been asked by the Foreign Ministry to refrain from commenting to the media.

But the relative said all family members are hoping for his safe return to Japan.

Meanwhile, a 72-year-old man who lives near Tsuneoka's home in Tokyo's Nakano Ward described the journalist as frank and cheerful.

The neighbor said Tsuneoka had spoken to him about his visits to Chechnyaand the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The man said he last saw Tsuneoka in early March.

The Japan Times