Police operation underway in Mogadishu following kidnap of health worker Sonja Nientiet from Red Cross compound

A German nurse working for the International Committee of the Red Cross has been kidnapped by armed men from a compound in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The abduction, on Wednesday evening, took place after gunmen entered the site and grabbed the woman, taking her out through a back entrance to evade security guards.

The nurse was later identified in reports as Sonja Nientiet, who had worked for the ICRC since 2014 in conflict zones, including Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The kidnapping was the second serious incident involving health workers in Somalia this week following the killing of an employee of the World Health Organisation, Mariam Abdullahi, on Tuesday.

Daniel O’Malley, the ICRC’s deputy head in Somalia, said: “We are deeply concerned about the safety of our colleague.

“She is a nurse who was working every day to save lives and improve the health of some of Somalia’s most vulnerable.”

A police operation is underway, said local officer Major Mohamed Hussein: “We got the report minutes after she was abducted and now we are searching the whole area. We hope we shall find her.”

No group has claimed responsibility but, in the past, foreigners, journalists and aid workers among them, have been kidnapped by armed gangs or al-Shabaab militants and held for ransom, sometimes for years at a time.

A German nurse working for the International Committee of the Red Cross has been kidnapped by armed men from a compound in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The abduction, on Wednesday evening, took place after gunmen entered the site and grabbed the woman, taking her out through a back entrance to evade security guards.

The nurse was later identified in reports as Sonja Nientiet, who had worked for the ICRC since 2014 in conflict zones, including Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The kidnapping was the second serious incident involving health workers in Somalia this week following the killing of an employee of the World Health Organisation, Mariam Abdullahi, on Tuesday.

Daniel O’Malley, the ICRC’s deputy head in Somalia, said: “We are deeply concerned about the safety of our colleague.

“She is a nurse who was working every day to save lives and improve the health of some of Somalia’s most vulnerable.”

A police operation is underway, said local officer Major Mohamed Hussein: “We got the report minutes after she was abducted and now we are searching the whole area. We hope we shall find her.”

No group has claimed responsibility but, in the past, foreigners, journalists and aid workers among them, have been kidnapped by armed gangs or al-Shabaab militants and held for ransom, sometimes for years at a time.