Abducted Nepali dies in Afghanistan

One of two Nepali security men kidnapped in Afghanistan has died of illness during more than two weeks in captivity.

One of two Nepali security men kidnapped in Afghanistan has died of illness during more than two weeks in captivity, but the other has been found safe, a government official said on Tuesday.

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The body of the man who died was found in an area to the west of the capital Kabul on Monday evening after the kidnappers fled, Deputy Interior Minister Abdul Malik Seddiqi told reporters.

"The Interior Ministry expresses its deepest regret for the death," he said, without identifying the Nepalis or specifying the illness that caused the death.

Seddiqi said police were closing in on the kidnappers, who he described as criminals. He said no ransom had been paid.

The Nepalis, who worked for a foreign aid agency, were abducted in an upmarket district of Kabul on February 11.

Dozens of Nepalis work for security companies in Afghanistan, many guarding embassies or aid agencies in Kabul.

There have been periodic kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, some by Taliban militants and some by criminal gangs.

An Italian woman aid worker was snatched from her car in Kabul last year, raising fears that militants were copying the tactics of Iraqi insurgents.

Her kidnappers turned out to be criminals and she was released unharmed after about three weeks.

Timoor Shah, the leader of the gang that abducted her, was recently sentenced to death for the earlier kidnapping and murder of an Afghan businessman and has been identified as a leader of a prison riot in Kabul that broke out on Saturday.