Director of JRS Afghanistan abducted

(Vatican Radio) Alexis Prem Kumar, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service in Afghanistan was abducted on Monday as he travelled from a school that serves refugees.

His captors have not been identified and there has been no official communication from Afghan Police regarding the kidnapping, however the JRS head office is in contact with authorities in Afghanistan and in India, as Prem Kumar is an Indian citizen.

James Stapleton, Head of Communications at JRS told Vatican Radio's Linda Bordoni the abduction took place close to the city of Herat.

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Stapleton says on Monday morning "our director, Prem Kumar, went on a visit, as he does very frequently to one of the projects 25 kilometers outside Herat. He visited the school with the teachers there and at the end of the visit, he was taken away forcefully by a group of men".

Stapleton says JRS is in contact with the authorities both in Afghanistan and in India and following instuctions, but "as of now we don't have any information on what's happening with Prem Kumar".

He says that all JRS projects at the moment have been suspended: "we are waiting to see how the situation develops, we don't want to do anything that could put the life of any of our staff, or of Prem Kumar, at risk. We will be taking advice from the relevant authorities and from other organizations, and then making a decision".

Stapleton says that at the moment "our only focus is the security of director Prem Kumar and of the staff on the ground. Some staff have already been evacuated and at the moment we are playing it by ear".

As regards Prem Kumar himself, Stapleton says he has had much field experience. Indian by birth, he has been with JRS for the past 10 years. He started off at a project in Southern India in the area of Tamil Naidu with Sri Lankan refugees. He describes him as a man full of energy and full of ideas and speaks of the shock and distress being experienced at JRS because of the abduction.