(SomaliNet) A local security official said a British national working for an oil company operating in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeast Somalia was on Wednesday freed hours after being hijacked by two of his bodyguards. One of the kidnappers was killed and the other was severely wounded by local security forces who managed to free the hostage, Amin Haji, head of the company security staff, told Xinhua by phone from Bosasso, the commercial capital of Puntland, where the oil company is based.
The British national, Carl Fletcher, was working for Africa Oil Company which has lately been carrying out oil explorations in the region, local Shabelle radio quoted Hassan Osman Mohamoud, regional Minister for Oil and Mineral resources as saying. Fletcher was taken to an area called Ufeyn, 150 km east of Bossaso by his captors and were reportedly pursued by local security forces who engaged in gun fight before free the hostage who is now said to be "fine and healthy".
"He was abducted by two men from his bodyguards who mutinied. "They took him to an area in Ufeyn," the minister said.
It is not yet clear the motive behind this latest attempted hijacking but the northeastern regions had lately been the scene of a number of abductions of foreign nationals for ransom and rampant piracy in the coastline of Puntland.