MSF Workers Kidnapped in Somalia

A convoy traveling in Somalia was attacked and several hostages were taken including two Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) workers.

Apparently, a three-car convoy was traveling from Rabbure to Hudur in southwestern Somalia when gunmen seized the group. The MSF workers were held while their Somali staff members were released, the aid worker said. One of the hostages is European and the nationality of the other is not known. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "We're lost contact with some members of staff," said Tom Quinn, the agency's head of mission for Somalia. "Investigations are ongoing." MSF did not immediately release the identities or nationalities of the hostages, for security reasons. The Bakool region, where the two Medecins Sans Frontieres workers were seized Sunday, is reported to be under the control of an Islamist militia that is fighting Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government.