Aid workers kidnapped

MOGADISHU, Somalia – About 25 masked gunmen armed with machine guns kidnapped two European aid workers in central Somalia on Sunday, aid workers and a witness said.

Michel Peremans, a spokesman for the Belgian chapter of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), confirmed that a Dutch and a Belgian staff member of his relief agency were missing in the Bakool region, where the attack occurred. But for security reasons he declined to say whether they had been taken hostage.

Witness Abdirahman Isaq was in the convoy when it was stopped as it traveled between Radhure village and the town of Wajid in central Somalia. The group of kidnappers motioned for his vehicle filled with clan elders to continue but captured the two foreigners.

Isaq said the aid workers did not initially appear afraid. Roadblocks where militias extort money and check for rival gunmen are common in lawless Somalia.

Isaq said other clan elders had informed him the two had made radio contact with their base in Somalia to confirm the kidnapping.