BAIDOA, Somalia – Unknown gunmen have abducted International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent staff members near Baidoa town, some 250km southwest of Somali capital Mogadishu.
The Red Crescent staff members were on a mission to provide humanitarian aid to drought affected people near Baidoa town, sources said.
It is not clear who was behind abduction, but Islamist militants have repeatedly carried out attacks in the region.
“Unknown gunmen pulled them from a camp where food distribution was ongoing at gunpoint and took them to an unknown destination,” the sources said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction.
In May, unidentified gunmen kidnapped a German nurse from the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Somali capital, Mogadishu
The abductions and killings of Somali aid workers are common in the Horn of Africa country, but targeting foreign workers has become less frequent in recent years as security has improved.
