Saturday, October 16, 2010

Somali Gunmen Snatch British Aid Worker

The Foreign Office is "urgently investigating" the kidnapping of a British charity worker by gunmen in Somalia.

The Save the Children consultant was taken along with a Somali national on Thursday night from a guesthouse compound in Adado, a town near the Ethiopian border.

The aid agency had been looking into setting up a humanitarian programme for sick and malnourished children and their families.

Spokesman Anna Ford said: "We are extremely concerned about the welfare of those being held and urgently call upon whoever is holding them captive to release them unconditionally."

It is unclear who captured the men, but kidnapping is not uncommon in the lawless area, where gunmen are employed by both pirate gangs and militia factions allied to the government.

Relatives of the Somali captive, named locally as Bashir Yusuf, said he had since been released - although these reports have not yet been confirmed.

Save the Children has been working across the country for over 40 years, with emphasis on improving access to food, healthcare and education.

Source: news.sky.com

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