8 Red Cross Staff Kidnapped in DRC

American Red Cross International staff at work in a distribution center in Haiti. Aid workers usually operate in post-disaster and post-conflict situations where their security is at risk. Photo by: Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross

Seven Congolese and one Swiss Red Cross workers were abducted by rebels in the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Associated Press reports. The eight have been held by members of the Mai Mai Yakutumba militia group since April 9, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross said.

“We demand that the group holding our personnel release them as quickly as possible,” said Franz Rauchenstein, head of the ICRC delegation in Congo. “We are in contact with our colleagues, and their families have been briefed on the situation.”