Third hostage abducted by Christian militia in Central African Republic

Armed men kidnapped a female UN employee in the capital of the strife-torn Central African Republic on Tuesday, a day after two aid workers were seized, said a source with the UN force. The gunmen, who appeared to be linked to the Christian anti-balaka militia, seized the woman from a van taking UN staffers to work in Bangui, the source with the UN’s Minusca force in the country said on condition of anonymity.

Unidentified armed men kidnapped on Tuesday a woman who works for MINUSCA after having stopped the vehicle in which she was traveling. A similar kidnap attempt failed just a bit earlier.

Statement released by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)

Two aid workers, including a 67-year-old French woman, were kidnapped on Monday in the capital of the strife-torn Central African Republic, the French government said. The pair, who worked for the Catholic medical charity CODIS, were stopped by four men carrying Kalashnikov rifles in the centre of Bangui as they returned from a town north of the capital, their driver said. The second aid worker is said to be a local man.

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