The Taliban claimed Sunday that insurgent fighters have captured a Toronto man in Afghanistan.

A Foreign Affairs spokesperson confirmed that a Canadian citizen, Colin Rutherford, is currently missing in Afghanistan after travelling to the country as a tourist.

Canadian and Afghan officials are working “to assist the family in securing the safe release” of the man, according to a statement released by the ministry.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, wrote in a report on a website that describes itself as the “voice of jihad” that Rutherford was captured in Ghazni City, which lies partway between the country’s capital, Kabul, and the city of Kandahar.

The Taliban report claims that the Torontonian was searching for information to expose the locations of underground insurgent fighters.

The abductors plan on releasing a video soon, according to reports.

The federal government advises Canadians to avoid all travel to Afghanistan, calling the situation in the Middle Eastern country “volatile and unpredictable” and adding that the threat to Canadians from terrorist violence is very high.

“Canadians undertaking travel despite this warning take serious risks,” Foreign Affairs’ travel report warns.

The travel report specifically mentions the highway between Kabul and Kandahar, where Ghazni City is located, as a site of several security incidents.

In 2008, CBC journalist Melissa Fung was released after 28 days of captivity in Afghanistan. Canadian media outlets did not report on the kidnapping out of concerns for Fung’s safety until after she was released, raising questions of a double-standard for reporting on abductions of civilians and journalists.

A Canadian freelance journalist, Amanda Lindhout, spent 14 months in captivity in Somalia before her family paid a ransom and she was freed.

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