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MOGADISHU: A humanitarian consultant with dual British and Zimbabwean nationality has been kidnapped along with his local fixer by gunmen in Somalia, non-governmental organisations said on Friday.
Heavily armed men travelling in three vehicles burst into the compound of the British NGO Save The Children-UK in Adado, in central Somalia, on Thursday night, a humanitarian source who asked not to be identified told AFP.
A security consultant and the Somali accompanying him were kidnapped by the armed men who set off towards Hobyo, a pirate stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast.
Two other humanitarian sources confirmed the account.
The security guards at Save The Children put up no resistance and no shots were exchanged.
A local official also confirmed the incident and said an investigation has been launched. The consultant has dual British and Zimbabwean nationality, according to the same humanitarian sources.
“We heard similar reports, we are investigating,” said a British diplomat questioned by AFP.
Two of the sources questioned said the consultant, who is resident in Nairobi also has Danish nationality but this has not been confirmed.
Adado, where the kidnapping happened, is the capital of the autonomous region of Himan and Heeb under the control of clan militia headed by a self-proclaimed president Mohamed Aden Ticey, a businessman who returned home after a long spell in the United States.
Himan and Heeb is relatively calm but the region borders an area controlled by Shebab Islamists to the south while Somali pirates operate to the east.
A British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, have been held hostage for almost a year in this part of Somalia after their yacht was captured in the Indian Ocean, off the Seychelles. — AFP
