Two Aid Workers Among Four People Kidnapped In Eastern DR Congo

Four people were kidnapped for ransom in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, in the restive eastern region, a humanitarian group and a local official said on Saturday.

According to the head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), Jean Lundimu, the four were two aid workers and a supplier, who are all Congolese, and a Burundian.

They had been ambushed in Mutambala area in the province’s Fizi region on Friday and were taken on the edge of Lake Tanganyika as they were making their way from the Mulongwe refugee camp.

“Only the driver has been released. Negotiations are ongoing, we are following the situation closely,” Lundimu told AFP.

Abductions in the area are not unusual. According to a local official, Moutard Wa Mlendela, a driver for another international organisation was kidnapped in mid-October before he was released after a ransom was paid.

South Kivu and other regions in the DR Congo’s east remain under siege from a number of armed groups, including the infamous Allied democratic Forces (ADF). Several of these groups claim to have been formed to protect the interests of various ethnic communities.