Kabul, Afghanistan ? An Italian freelance photographer and his assistant were abducted by five armed men in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said Sunday.

Gabriele Torsello and his Afghan translator were kidnapped Saturday as they drove from Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, to Kandahar, an official in Helmand said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The two were in their car when they were abducted, according to the official, who said he spoke to witnesses.

Maso Notarianni, the director of the Italian online magazine Peace Reporter, told Italian state TV that Torsello had called a hospital in Lashkar Gah, apparently to let authorities know he had been kidnapped.

“Until Thursday he was in the deep south of Afghanistan, in Taliban-controlled territory,” Notarianni said.