BERLIN, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - A German-Afghan man has been missing for over a week in Kabul and is believed to have been kidnapped, the foreign ministry in Berlin said Wednesday.

'We assume he has fallen victim to a criminal abduction,' ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner told a regular government news conference.

He said a crisis team at the ministry had been working closely since July 29 with Afghan authorities to secure the man's release.

Ploetner declined to provide any further information.

Kidnappings by criminal gangs seeking ransom have soared in Afghanistan as security has deteriorated since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban government.