Two international aid workers kidnapped in Yemen

Sanaa: Two workers of the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres/MSF) were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadramout, a security official said.

The aid workers from Germany and Mexico, were intercepted when travelling in the western part of Hadramout on Saturday, the official told Xinhua news agency.

“The unidentified gunmen set up an armed ambush and kidnapped two MSF’s aid workers, driving them to unknown whereabouts,” the local source said.

Last month, Russell Geekie, senior communications advisor to the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, confirmed that five staff members of the world body were kidnapped in Abyan province “after having completed a field mission”.

The UN staff members are still held by unknown gunmen as a mediation conducted by local tribal figures failed to secure their release despite a series of negotiation rounds with an armed group responsible for the kidnapping incident.