Yemen interior minister vows to free kidnapped MSF doctors amid spike in hostage taking

Yemen's Interior Minister Major General Ibrahim Haidan on Tuesday condemned the kidnapping of two Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medics and vowed to free them.

An armed group kidnapped two foreigners working with MSF in Yemen's eastern province of Hadramawt earlier this month, a source from the internationally-recognised Yemeni government said, as the charity confirmed it had "lost contact" with some staff.

On Tuesday, Haidan received a delegation from MSF in the city of Seiyun in Hadramawt Governorate to discuss the government's response to the situation.

He described the kidnapping as an "act of terrorism" and said security forces are working to track down the medics and free them.

Gunmen abducted the foreign humanitarian workers on 5 March, while they were passing through the Al-Khusha’a Al-Abr road in Hadhramaut Governorate in southeastern Yemen. They were taken to an unknown location.

The incident happened following the kidnapping of United Nations employees in Abyan governorate in southern Yemen for ransom. Their fate is still unknown and efforts by local tribes to release them have so far failed.