Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped three workers from the United Nation's refugee agency in Sudan's restive Darfur region.

The three workers - one from Sudan and two from Nepal - were kidnapped on Sunday from Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, and were taken to an unknown location, Abdallah Gar al-Nabi, West Darfur government spokesman, said on Monday.

UNHCR officials were not immediately available for comment, but its spokesman in Khartoum said a meeting was underway to discuss the "urgent incident".

A resident from Geneina said the gunmen came in a 4x4 vehicle.

"I saw some armed men ordering the three UN employees to get into their vehicle. They then drove off quickly," he said on condition of anonymity.

"The incident happened near the main mosque of Geneina."

Sunday's abduction of UNHCR staff is not the first in Darfur.

Several foreign and Sudanese aid workers have been abducted in the region over the years.

READ MORE: Sudan accused of chemical weapons attacks in Darfur

Darfur has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since 2003, when ethnic minority black tribes took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir's government.

As part of its counter-insurgency strategy, the government turned to the "Janjaweed" recruited from Arab tribes, who have since been incorporated into official paramilitary units.

Analysts say militias in search of resources often turn on each other, and sometimes against the government even as Khartoum insists that violence in Darfur has ebbed.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since the conflict began in 2003, according to the UN.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes and genocide charges related to Darfur, which he denies.

Sudan also wants UN peacekeepers who have been deployed in Darfur, a region the size of France, since 2007 to leave. </s> Armed men have abducted three UN refugee agency staffers, including two foreigners, from Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region, a local government official told AFP on Monday.

Two Nepalese and a Sudanese national working for UNHCR were abducted Sunday in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.

"A group of armed men kidnapped yesterday three UNHCR workers, two Nepalese and a Sudanese, from Geneina," Abdelah Mustafa, spokesman for the state government of West Darfur told AFP.

UNHCR officials were not immediately available for comment, but its spokesman in Khartoum told AFP by text message that a meeting was underway to discuss the "urgent incident".

Darfur has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since then, the UN says.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes and genocide charges related to Darfur, which he denies.

Sudan insists that the conflict in Darfur has ended, and that it wants UN peacekeepers who have been deployed in the region the size of France since 2007 to leave. </s> Khartoum. Armed men have abducted three UN refugee agency staffers, including two foreigners, from Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, a local government official told AFP on Monday.

“A group of armed men kidnapped yesterday three UNHCR workers, two Nepalese and a Sudanese, from Geneina,” the capital of West Darfur state, state government spokesman Abdelah Mustafa told AFP. “Police are searching for the kidnappers.” UNHCR officials were not immediately available for comment, but its spokesman in Khartoum told AFP by text message that a meeting was underway to discuss the “urgent incident”. A resident from Geneina told AFP that the gunmen came in a 4x4 vehicle.

“I saw some armed men ordering the three UN employees to get into their vehicle. They then drove off quickly,” he said on condition of anonymity. “The incident happened near the main mosque of Geneina,” the resident said.

Darfur has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since 2003 when ethnic minority black tribes took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.

As part of its counter-insurgency strategy the government turned to “Janjaweed” militias recruited from Arab tribes, and who have since been incorporated into official paramilitary units.

Experts say that militias in search of resources often turn on each other, and sometimes against the government even as Khartoum insists that violence in Darfur has ebbed.

Sunday’s abduction of UNHCR staffers is not the first in Darfur as several foreign and Sudanese aid workers have been abducted in the region over the years.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since the conflict first erupted in 2003, the UN says. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes and genocide charges related to Darfur, which he denies.(AFP) </s> AFP Copyright: AFP A video shows an aid worker, who gives her name as Grace, asking for help from the international community Image caption: A video shows an aid worker, who gives her name as Grace, asking for help from the international community

The Nigerian government says it is negotiating with captors of the six aid workers abducted last week in the north-east of the country.

The news comes after a video of the aid workers emerged.

In the video the only female among them made a passionate appeal to the authorities and the international community to facilitate their release.

The hostages, who work with aid agency Action Against Hunger, were abducted last week in Borno state when suspected Boko Haram militants ambushed their convoy and killed one of their drivers.

Government spokesperson Garba Shehu told the BBC that the authorities are hopeful the aid workers would be freed.

Mr Shehu has not given details of the negotiations but he called on the captors to show mercy.

Earlier, Action Against Hunger said the six - comprised of one staff member, plus drivers and health workers employed locally - are "apparently in a good condition of health".

The kidnapping has once again highlighted the risks humanitarian workers face as they try to deliver aid to millions of people affected by the Boko Haram conflict in the Lake Chad region.

Last year, two female staff members from the International Committee of the Red Cross were abducted and executed by militants in north-east Nigeria. </s> Hunt for two Red Cross workers after deadly Afghan ambush

Syrian refugees wait for the distribution of humanitarian aid by volunteers of the Bulgarian Red Cross outside a refugee centre in Sofia October 3, 2013. Red Cross said today that two of its members are missing after an attack in Afghanistan. — Reuters picKABUL, Feb 10 — The Red Cross said today it was desperately searching for two employees who went missing after their convoy came under insurgent fire in northern Afghanistan, leaving six other workers dead.

The aid workers were ambushed in northern Jowzjan province on Wednesday while they were en route to a remote snowbound area to deliver much-needed relief supplies.

Six employees were killed on the spot, many of them shot from close range, in one of the worst attacks on the international charity in the country for years.

“Unfortunately, there’s no news yet on our two colleagues unaccounted for,” Thomas Glass, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP.

“We are actively trying to locate them.”

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, but Jowzjan’s police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani has blamed local Islamic State jihadists.

The ambush underscores how aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly become casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.

“This event demonstrates the urgent need for all parties to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to... (provide) aid workers with a safe environment to work in,” the UN said, noting that those killed were travelling in a clearly marked ICRC vehicle.

The attack comes at a time when Afghanistan is in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with more than 100 people killed in recent avalanches and tens of thousands displaced by the wrenching conflict.

The ICRC, which has been working in Afghanistan for three decades, said it was putting its nationwide operations on hold, but there were no plans for now to withdraw staff.

The Taliban, the largest militant group in Afghanistan which promptly distanced itself from the attack, has assured ICRC of security in areas under their control.

“The (Taliban) calls on the officials of ICRC to refrain from suspending their services as the Afghan nation is (in) need of humanitarian aid and health services more than ever before,” the group said on their official website yesterday. — AFP </s> Hunt for two Red Cross workers after deadly Afghan ambush

The Red Cross was desperately searching for two employees who went missing after their convoy came under insurgent fire in northern Afghanistan, leaving six other workers dead, the charity said Friday.

The workers were ambushed in northern Jowzjan province on Wednesday while they were enroute to a remote snowbound area to deliver much-needed relief supplies.

Six employees were killed on the spot, many of them shot from close range, in one of the worst attacks on the international charity in the country for years.

"Unfortunately, there's no news yet on our two colleagues unaccounted for," Thomas Glass, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP.

"We are actively trying to locate them."

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, but Jowzjan's police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani has blamed local Islamic State jihadists.

The attack underscores how aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly become casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.

It comes at a time when Afghanistan is in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with more than 100 people killed in recent avalanches and tens of thousands displaced by the wrenching conflict.

The ICRC, which has been working in Afghanistan for three decades, said it was putting its nationwide operations on hold, but there were no plans for now to withdraw staff.

The Taliban, the largest militant group in Afghanistan which promptly distanced itself from the attack, has assured ICRC of security in areas under their control.

"The (Taliban) calls on the officials of ICRC to refrain from suspending their services as the Afghan nation is (in) need of humanitarian aid and health services more than ever before," the group said on their official website on Thursday. </s> After six employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the aid organisation announced that it would temporarily suspend efforts in the country and called the offensive the "worst attack against us" in 20 years.

Also read: Kabul blast: Suicide bomber kills at least 20 people near supreme court

Two employees of the charity organisation have gone missing after they tried to deliver aid to a remote northern region hit by snow storms.

"We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night," Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera. They said they're haulting services "because we need to understand what exactly happened before we can hopefully resume our operations".

"We've been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts."

Taliban has denied responsibilty of the attack. The governor of the Jowzjan province suspects the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hand.

"Daesh is very active in that area," he said.

Jowzjan police chief said the bodies of the ICRC workers were taken to the provincial capital.

"These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community," ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Higher altitude regions of Afghanistan have been hit by a massive snowstorm over the weekend with snowfall as high as two metres. It also led to the death of 100 people in an avalanche.

In December 2016, gunmen in northern Afghanistan had abducted a Spanish ICRC employee, who was released a month later. He was with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz. The locals had not been abducted. </s> The International Committee of the Red Cross temporarily suspended some of its efforts in Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after gunmen killed six employees delivering aid to a remote northern region hit by heavy snow storms.

A search operation was under way to find two charity workers still missing.

The head of the ICRC called the incident the “worst attack against us” in 20 years, but the group said it did not know who was responsible.

“We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night,” Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera.

“We’ve been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera his group was not involved in the attack.

The governor of Jowzjan province, Lotfullah Azizi, said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gunmen.

A massive snowstorm dumped as much as two metres of snow on areas of Afghanistan over the weekend, causing an avalanche that killed more than 100 people.

Jowzjan police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said the ICRC workers’ bodies had been taken to the provincial capital.

“These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community,” ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Afghanistan is the Red Cross’ fourth-largest humanitarian programme in the world, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues made it difficult to deliver aid across the country.

Gunmen in northern Afghanistan kidnapped a Spanish ICRC employee in mid December, releasing him nearly a month later.

That staff member had been travelling with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz when assailants stopped their vehicles. The local staff were immediately released. </s> A spate of kidnappings for ransom in the Birnin Gwari district of northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state has left residents afraid to even leave their homes.

“When a person travels, his family, friends and neighbours gather to pray for his safety because of the kidnappers,” said local resident Kabiru Mohammed.

“It’s celebrations once he returns because kidnapping on the highway has become the norm. It’s a nightmare that should only exist in fairytales,” he told AFP by telephone.

Mohammed and his neighbours have good reason to be anxious.

Kidnappings have reached unprecedented levels in the last two months. In early May, about 100 people were abducted in just two days on a road near the border with Zamfara state.

Haruna Musa, who also lives in Birnin Gwari, said the situation has forced people in at least six villages in the area to abandon their homes.

Last week, an armed gang raided the village of Maganda and kidnapped three wives of a businessman. Many locals now don’t sleep at night. Instead, they patrol their communities.

“I also join in the night patrols to encourage others,” said Mustapha Idris, the chief imam of Maganda.

But the creation of civilian militia has itself had deadly consequences. On May 6, at least 71 people were killed in Gwaska village during clashes with armed bandits.

Birnin Gwari is not alone in being affected. In Zamfara, there have been similar problems from kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs.

“The mere sound of a motorcycle engine outside your house at night robs you of sleep because it could be a sign that the dreaded bandits have come,” said Nuhu Dansadau.

Aliyu Kawaye, who lives in the town of Anka, said the abductors seize cash and force families to sell their farm produce to raise the ransom payment.

According to the state government, more than 10,000 cattle have been stolen in the last seven years.

“What is more worrisome is the deliberate attack on farmers who dare to go to their farms,” said Dansadau.

“The bandits amputate their hands from the wrists, put the severed palms in the farmers’ pockets and send them back to the village as a warning to others.”

The kidnapping gangs and cattle thieves, who roam on motorcycles on the hunt for victims, are known to operate in northern Kaduna and Zamfara.

Both regions have been largely spared by the Boko Haram insurgency, another of Nigeria’s pressing security problems along with a land conflict between nomads and farmers.

The kidnappers’ heavily guarded camps dot the Rugu forest, which straddles Kaduna, Zamfara and the northern states of Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger.

Abductees whose families don’t pay ransoms are killed and their bodies dumped, according to security sources.

Kidnapping for ransom used to be a phenomenon isolated to oil-rich southern Nigeria. But it has spread further north and become lucrative because of economic hardship.

It has also attracted young ethnic Fulani herders who have lost their herds in unrest with farmers over grazing and watering rights.

Young Fulani herders now make up most of the marauding gangs in northern Nigeria and other West African countries, said Saleh Bayeri, of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association.

The Kaduna state government formed a joint military and police taskforce to combat kidnapping and cattle rustling in Birnin Gwari but has had little success.

In March, bandits likely armed with illegal weapons smuggled in from Mali and Libya, killed 11 troops at a camp in the area, prompting the military to withdraw.

In April, the Nigerian Air Force deployed special forces to Zamfara to fight the gangs but locals said more were needed.

“The bandits by far outnumber the troops and are better armed,” said Kawaye.

Zamfara governor Abdulaziz Yari has said he does not have adequate resources to police a state which at 40,000 square kilometres (15,400 square miles) is about the same size as Switzerland.

There are only 2,000 regular police officers, 400 riot police, 315 soldiers and fewer than 100 air force personnel for a population of more than four million, he said in February.

In response to the killings, he has ordered troops to shoot on sight anyone seen with a gun in affected areas. But that and a number of amnesty offers have had little effect.

“The best way to end this menace is for the government to send in more troops and weapons to fight these criminals as well as intensify security along our borders,” said Dansadau.
Three UNHCR workers - one from Sudan and two from Nepal - are kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Geneina, the capital of the West Darfur state.