Briton kidnapped by gunmen in Somalia
A British aid worker with Save The Children has been kidnapped by gunmen in Somalia, our Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Jonathan Rugman writes.
The kidnapping happened last night between 11pm and midnight. The Briton and his Somali translator were taken from the compound of a local aid agency called Centre for Peace and Democracy in the town of Adado, near the Ethiopian border, by 3 men supposedly guarding them.
Residents of Adado have told us that the 3 men carried out the kidnapping after their fellow guards rushed off to defend the town from an attack by a moderate Islamic group known as Ahlu Sunna Waljama. Today it was reported that Ahlu Sunna had captured Adado after fighting which left 7 dead and 20 injured.
Guide released
The Briton’s Somali guide was released today. Save the Children have asked us not to name the Briton himself, though we understand that he has a wife and child waiting for him back in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. I understand that no ransom demand has been made in what seems to have been an opportunist, spur of the moment kidnapping.
I understand members of the Somali Habirgidir-Suleyman sub-clan are holding the Briton, the same sub-clan which took the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler from their yacht a year ago next week. For a time the Chandlers were held in the Adado area. But the kidnappings are not believed to be related in any other way.
Al-Shabab fears
A local warlord is blaming last night’s kidnapping on Islamist fighters possibly working in cahoot with pirates, but this is impossible to confirm. The fear is that they may be sympathisers with or members of Al-Shabab, a radical Islamist group which is fighting for power in Somalia. Shabab fighters have recently taken up positions just 30 miles from Adado and there are reports that the Briton has been taken towards a Shabab-controlled area.
When aid workers are kidnapped in Somalia they are usually released unharmed.
In a statement Save The Children said: “Save the Children was assessing the feasibility of starting up a humanitarian programme to help malnourished and sick children and their families in the area.
“We are extremely concerned about the welfare of those being held and urgently call upon whoever is holding them captive to release them unconditionally.”