On Monday, gunmen in southern Somalia abducted three foreigners and a Somali who were working for the United Nations, the latest in a string of kidnappings in the war-wracked nation. "Four UN staff members were abducted early this morning by unknown armed men in Wajid, Somalia," the UN said in a statement, without specifying the hostages' nationalities."They were on their way to the airport when their convoy was stopped by gunmen. No violence or shooting was reported to have occurred during the incident," the statement added.
A local UN employee who asked not to be identified said the four work for the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Development Program. The employee added the hostages had recently flown back from the city of Hargeysa, in the northern self-declared state of Somaliland, and were on a stopover in Wajid, 340 kilometers south of the capital Mogadishu. "While the general location of the four staff members is known, no contact with the abductors has been established so far," the UN statement said.
Local elders confirmed the kidnapping and added that efforts were already under way to release the aid workers.