Pakistani among four abducted in Kenya

Other foreign aid workers are from Canada, Norway and the Philippines.

NAIROBI:

Gunmen kidnapped four foreign aid workers and killed their driver on Friday in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp complex, near the border with war-torn Somalia, police and officials said.

The four workers, who work with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), come from Canada, Norway, Pakistan and the Philippines, regional police official Philip Ndolo told AFP.

“Four foreign aid workers were kidnapped ... their Kenyan driver died later while receiving treatment at a local hospital,” Ndolo said, clarifying earlier reports that he had also been kidnapped.

Military helicopters and police chased the gunmen, who drove off with the hostages in their vehicle. It was later found abandoned, with fears that the gang are heading towards Somalia, some 100 kilometres from Dadaab.

“We have dispatched military helicopters to pursue the kidnappers,” Kenyan army spokesman Cyrus Oguna told AFP.

“The vehicle was found abandoned 30 kilometres from Daadab, and we believe the captives and their kidnappers are on foot,” he added.

The NRC is working to support some 465,000 inhabitants in the Dadaab complex, which constitutes Kenya’s third-biggest town in size of population.

“A convoy from the Norwegian Refugee Council was involved in an incident in the refugee camp Dadaab,” the NRC said in a statement, adding that its head Elisabeth Rasmusson had been travelling with the convoy but was unhurt and safe.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2012.