DRC: Aid workers abducted in Kivu

Three aid workers with the international non-profit organization ‘Save the Children’ were abducted Wednesday by unidentified gunmen in DR Congo.

“Three members of our organization were kidnapped around 15:30 (14:30 GMT) by armed men in Lubero territory in the eastern part of North Kivu province,” said Heather Kerr, DRC Director of the Save the Children.

According to her, the workers were in a convoy of two vehicles and one was attacked.

“They were taken into the bushes and right now, we do not have any information regarding their whereabouts or demands of the kidnappers,” she said.

In March 2015, two employees of an NGO were held hostage for 48 hours by unidentified kidnappers in Rutshuru territory (south of North Kivu province) before being rescued by security forces.

The Eastern part of DRC has been plagued for two decades by chronic instability caused by local and foreign armed groups who have perpetrated ethnic violence while fighting for mineral resources.