Caritas workers released after Congo kidnap

Three workers with the Catholic aid agency Caritas were abducted from their convoy in the Democratic Republic of Congo and held for 24 hours by militiamen in the troubled North Kivu region, it has been reported.

Initial reports detailed a gun attack on the convoy of vehicles in which a German photojournalist covering the work of Caritas in the area was wounded in the leg. Though some vehicles escaped the ambush, it was subsequently discovered that three volunteers were missing. Caritas convoys have been targeted previously as, being a trusted organisation, it is frequently charged with transporting the pay of healthcare and other workers in remote parts of the country.

With the attacked convoy bearing nothing of value on this occasion, there were initial fears for the safety of the abductees. However, after no word for 24 hours, the workers were released unharmed. They have since indicated that those responsible for the incident are most likely members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a group which has been operating (among numerous others) in Kivu since the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994.