Two German aid workers kidnapped in Darfur: UN

Knowing the hazards that abound in these countries with their unstable governments, why would anyone of sound mind risk their life by going there? Danger is easy enough to find without actually going out of one’s way looking for it. TGO

Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Unknown gunmen overnight swooped on the offices of German humanitarian group THW in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region and abducted two aid workers, a United Nations official said on Wednesday.

The raid late on Tuesday took place in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, the official of the joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) told AFP.

“They were kidnapped on Tuesday evening from their office in Nyala by armed men in civilian clothes,” said UNAMID communication chief Kemal Saiki.

He identified the abducted aid workers as two Germans. The kidnappers also briefly held a Sudanese employee before they released him.

Another peacekeeping official said that seven men, four of them armed with assault rifles, abducted the aid workers at about 10:00 pm local time (1900 GMT).

Saiki added that the unidentified kidnappers then headed in the direction of Kass, a city north of Nyala.

The aid workers work for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, the disaster relief arm of the German interior ministry.

Humanitarian officials said the group was closing its offices in south Darfur, but would keep working in north Darfur.

Darfur has seen a wave of kidnappings targeting foreign aid workers since an international court in March 2009 issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir on charges of war crimes in Darfur.

Most of those abducted have been released unharmed, but an American female aid worker kidnapped in May is still being held hostage.

The United Nation estimates that 300,000 people have died since ethnic rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, complaining of discrimination.

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One Response to Two German aid workers kidnapped in Darfur: UN

  1. sammyljackson says:

    I think more people would invest interest in saving Darfur if they could better conceptualize what’s going on there. There are hundreds if not thousands of news articles that talk about the Genocide but I don’t think people really know what’s going on. Uwe Boll has a new movie coming out soon called “Attack on Darfur” which brought tears to my eyes. There are very few Darfur films I can think of, but this one is very powerful.

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