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Fourteen Eritrean asylum seekers kidnapped in Sudan - UNHCR source

by Reuters
Thursday, 4 June 2015 20:17 GMT

A refugee is seen during a visit by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres to the Shagarab Eritrean Refugees camp at Kassala in East Sudan January 12, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

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Attackers stop lorry carrying asylum seekers near a refugee camp in Sudan's Kassala state, an area known to be a region where human trafficking gangs operate

KHARTOUM, June 4 (Reuters) - Assailants kidnapped 14 Eritrean asylum seekers in Sudan's eastern Kassala state, a source with the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday.

The attackers stopped the lorry, rented by the agency UNHCR to transport the asylum seekers, near a refugee camp in Kassala.

"The UNHCR are following the incident with the Sudanese authorities to help bring the kidnapped people back," he said.

The lorry arrived at the refugee camp with some of its remaining passengers who were slightly wounded after they managed to resist the kidnappers and flee the scene, the source, who declined to be further identified, told Reuters.

Two residents confirmed that a group of Eritreans were kidnapped in the area, which is known to be a region where human trafficking gangs operate.

Sudanese police officials in Kassala were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing By Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Dominic Evans)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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