ABDUCTORS FREE 14 AID WORKERS IN CONGO

NAN

No fewer than 14 aid workers kidnapped by unidentified assailants in eastern Rutshuru region of Democratic Republic of Congo have been released, the UN said on Tuesday.

The workers who were kidnapped on Sunday were employees of a Congolese non-governmental organisation.

A statement by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Congo said “we are very happy to learn that the 14 aid workers kidnapped on Sunday have been released.”

The statement did not give further details, and government officials could not be reached for comment.

Rutshuru’s mountainous terrain which abuts the Rwandan border has been the site of several home-grown and foreign-backed insurgencies.

It is also a fertile ground for many of eastern Congo’s dozens of armed groups, who traffic its rich natural resources.