Five members of the Belgian branch of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF = Læger uden Grænser) have been kidnapped in Sudans Darfur region, BBC online reports Thursday.
MSF officials said three international staff and two local employees were kidnapped on Wednesday in north Darfur.
The kidnappings come after Sudan ordered the expulsion of 13 aid groups, including the French and Dutch chapters of MSF, earlier this month. They were told to leave after President Omar al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court. He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The aid workers were taken at gunpoint from the MSF Belgium office at Saraf Umra, some 230 kilometres west of the North Darfur capital El Fasher, on Wednesday evening.
