Plea to Somali gang to release aid workers
NAIROBI — Employers of two kidnapped foreign aid workers appealed on Friday to Somali elders for their safe release, saying they had come "to help the people of Somalia."
American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Danish Poul Thisted, 60, were both working for the Danish Demining Group (DDG) when they were seized Tuesday by gunmen in central Somalia's Galmudug region, the group said.
A statement written in the Somali language appealed on elders to do "all they can to help the release of the abducted aid workers."
"The two kidnapped people are part of the international humanitarian community who are dedicated to work in Somalia," the statement read.
DDG clears landmines and other unexploded ordnance in the area to open up the use of land, and also provides mine risk education to reduce injuries.
The kidnaps on Tuesday were the latest in a string of abductions by armed gangs from the war-torn nation, one of the world's most dangerous regions for aid workers.
Elders in the region said Thursday that the pair are now reportedly held hostage for ransom in the coastal Hobyo district, a notorious pirate den.
A Somali colleague seized at the same time was released and is being questioned by police, according to local sources.
Security officials in the self-declared independent state of Galmudug said they have arrested several people in connection with the incident.
Two Spanish aid workers were seized in Kenya's eastern Dadaab camp earlier this month and are believed to have been taken across the border into Somalia.
A British tourist was kidnapped from Kenya's coastal areas last month, followed shortly afterward by a Frenchwoman, who later died in captivity.
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