The mysterious kidnapping of five Europeans and eight locals has put the international spotlight on a remote, barren and searingly hot corner of Ethiopia left behind by the modern world. The Afar region’s 1,4-million inhabitants — mainly nomads — occupy one of the Earth’s harshest terrains.
Security forces searching for five people linked to the British embassy, who were kidnapped in Ethiopia’s remote Afar region, said on Tuesday their captors had taken them across the border into Eritrea. Asmara has vehemently denied charges by regional officials that Eritrean soldiers were responsible for last week’s abduction.