Somali gunmen kidnapped two Western journalists in the northern province of Puntland on Wednesday, police said, in the latest attack on foreigners working in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
”I think both the journalists are British but we shall investigate … we are sending police to free them,” said Puntland’s police spokesperson Abshir Said Jama.
Two freelancers, an Australian and a Canadian, are still being held after being seized in the capital Mogadishu in August. Foreign aid workers have also been increasingly targeted this year, with a string of assassinations and kidnappings.
Foreign journalists generally stay out of Somalia, leaving reporting on the ground to locals journalists. But a few do still go in, usually hiring local militia to protect them.
In London, a Foreign Office spokesperson could not confirm the kidnapping in Puntland. ”We are checking these reports, but have no confirmation as yet,” he said.
Kidnappers in Somalia are generally seeking ransom payments and seldom harm their hostages.
Islamist insurgents are facing off against the Somali government and its Ethiopian military allies in the south, but Puntland in the north runs its affairs with relative autonomy.
Gangs flourish there, however, and Puntland has become a major base for piracy. – Reuters