A 60-year-old Australian charity worker in Afghanistan was kidnapped at gunpoint by two men who talked their way into her compound by posing as Afghan intelligence officers, the chairman of her organisation has said.
Dominic d'Angelo, chairman of the charity Zardozi, told Fairfax Media by phone from the Afghan capital, Kabul, he believed that no contact had yet been made with the kidnappers.
Katherine Jane Wilson, who goes by the name Kerry, was taken about 5am on Thursday from her office in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Local authorities were interviewing the NGO's staff members, Mr d'Angelo said. 
"My understanding is that two people came to the door at approximately five o'clock yesterday morning claiming to be members of the Afghan national directorate of security and spoke to the gatekeeper of the building, who let them in, at which point they produced guns," he said.
The office also had guest bedrooms, where Dr Wilson was presumably sleeping.
"At the moment the Afghan authorities are talking to the various ... staff of the NGO in Jalalabad ... trying to find out more information," Mr d'Angelo said. "As far as I'm aware, there's been no contact with the people who have taken her so far."
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed Australian authorities were working with Afghan counterparts, who believed Dr Wilson had been kidnapped.
The government was "working with the local authorities, and our embassy in Kabul of course is deeply involved in this matter", Ms Bishop said. She said the government was also in close contact with Dr Wilson's family.
Dr Wilson lives in Kabul and has been in Afghanistan nearly 20 years.
She was due to fly to Perth to visit her father this weekend. Brian Wilson, 91, told the ABC in Perth that he was "extremely worried" for his daughter. He said his message to her was: "Do your best; come back."
Mr d'Angelo said kidnappings for ransom were "a regular occurrence in Jalalabad, principally affecting Afghans ... though I'm told last year there were events involving internationals". 
He said he believed there was a third kidnapper with a vehicle outside the compound on Thursday morning, and that militant groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda were present in the Jalalabad region.
He added: "The challenge is to distinguish between people who are in those groups and people who simply claim to be from those groups. There's quite a lot of disinformation that goes floating around ... as a sort of pressure point whereas they could just be your standard criminals."
Mr d'Angelo said Dr Wilson established Zardozi in 2005 and is its executive director. 
Zardozi helps Afghan women in urban areas, providing training and establishing centres where they can develop businesses and access markets to sell products such as art and craft works. It works with about 6000 women at three centres in Afghanistan and gets most of its funding from Britain.
Jalalabad is the capital of the Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan.
Local journalist Bilal Sarwary said police and intelligence officers had already made several arrests, including a rickshaw driver, a guard and a baker.
It was believed the woman's kidnappers were local gang members and not from terrorist groups, Mr Sarwary said. He said checkpoints had been created to prevent the woman from being taken to districts where Islamist militant groups the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Islamic State operate.
He said the kidnappers knew the woman's movements and were wearing uniforms belonging to the ASNF - the Afghanistan National Security Forces.  
#AFG Police in Jalalabad city tell me, a Western aid worker left Spin Ghar hotel and was staying in city with a local Afghan (1/2)
??? Bilal Sarwary (@bsarwary)      April 28, 2016
organization. Around 5:30 this morning she was kidnapped by armed men wearing military uniform. The kidnappers knew her movements(2/2)
??? Bilal Sarwary (@bsarwary)       April 28, 2016
A security source, requesting anonymity, said police have detained eight suspects, adding that the kidnapped woman had not requested protection.
In   February, five Afghan employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross were abducted by unidentified armed assailants in south-eastern Afghanistan, but were freed four days later.
Kidnappings, especially for ransom, are a common occurrence in the country, and frequently target employees of humanitarian organisations.
With AAP