KABUL, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- An Italian photo-journalist was abducted by gunmen in southern Afghanistan, local media said Sunday.

    Five gunmen seized Gabriele Torsello on the highway from the capital of Helmand province to neighboring Kandahar province, Pajhwok News Agency quoted traveling companion Gholam Mohammad as saying.

    Through a cellphone, an official with the office of the Italian Ambassador to Afghanistan confirmed with Xinhua that "Yes, of course, we know one Italian journalist has been kidnapped."

    But the official did not give his own name and refused to give other information.

    Pajhwok said when it called Torsello's mobile phone, a man answered "We are the Taliban and we have abducted the foreigner on charges of spying."

    However, a Taliban spokesman said the group was not involved in any abduction, saying criminals committed it.

    An Italian online newspaper, Peace Reporter, which focuses on reports from violent regions, said Torsello confirmed he had been kidnapped when speaking briefly to the security chief at an Italy-run hospital in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand.

    Torsello said he was abducted on Thursday from a public bus, but he did not know where he was being held now, according to Peace Reporter.

    Rising insurgence in this country, which kills over 2,400 people this year, obviously has also affected journalists here.

    Two German journalists were killed by unknown gunmen in the northern Baghlan province on Oct. 7. Enditem

    2 German journalists killed in north Afghanistan

    KABUL, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Unknown armed men shot dead two German journalists in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province Friday night, local officials said Saturday.

    "The ill-fated male and female worked for Dutch Villa were killed by unknown armed men in Abtotak village of Tala-o-Barfak district inside their tent last night," police chief of Baghlan Azim Hashimi told Xinhua.

    Afghan Police arrest 2 suspected killers of German journalists

    KABUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Police in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province have taken into custody two persons on charge of being involved in killing two German journalists, a Kabul-based newspaper reported Thursday.

    "Police arrested two suspected killers of German journalists and are hopeful to find the real culprits behind the heinous crime," daily Cheragh quoted police chief of Baghlan Azim Hashimi as saying.