Gunmen kidnap three aid workers at refugee camp

Gunmen kidnapped three foreign aid workers – two Spaniards and an Italian – from a refugee camp yesterday. Spanish media reported that one of the workers and a guard were wounded in the attack.

The Algeria-based Polisario movement, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara and runs the Rabuni camp, near Tindouf, said the kidnappers approached from the direction of neighbouring Mali in four-wheel-drive vehicles and "left from where they came".

A military official in neighbouring Mauritania said the kidnappers were linked to the al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. AP