Kabul - A group of unknown gunmen abducted a French national in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

The man was on foot in the Kart-e-Parwan locality of Kabul city, when a group of three gunmen snatched him and took him to an unknown location by car, a senior police official in Kabul, who did not want to be named, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"An Afghan driver for the intelligence service, who tried to stop the abduction, was killed by the kidnappers," the official said.

He said a search operation involving hundreds of police is ongoing in the city and all roads linking the city to the neighbouring provinces had been closed by security forces. (dpa)