FIFTEEN foreigners, including 11 French nationals, a Briton and an Italian, are missing in a remote area of Ethiopia which has in the past seen kidnappings by rebels, expatriate sources said today.
"At least two groups of people have gone missing," one source familiar with the case said.
He said 10 French tourists and another group comprising a mixture of nationalities disappeared on Thursday while touring the arid Afar region in the northeast of the vast Horn of Africa nation.
Afar separatists started a low-level rebellion against the Addis Ababa Government in the 1990s, calling for the creation of a separate Afar state on territory which straddles Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
"Tourists have been kidnapped in the area before, but the last time was before the Ethiopian-Eritrean war," the source said, referring to a 1998-2000 border conflict between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
The second group, thought to be touring the Danakil Impression – one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth – included one Briton, one French national and one Italian, according to expatriate sources.
Nationalities of the other two were not immediately known.
Nine Italian tourists were captured by Afar tribesmen in a desert in 1995, then released two weeks later.
Ethiopia's Government said it was aware of the incident but could not confirm one media report the groups were kidnapped.
"The Government is monitoring the situation," an Information Ministry spokesman said, adding that a statement would be released later in the day.
In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said the case was being urgently tracked. "We understand a number of Western nationals are reported as missing. ... British Embassy staff are urgently checking with their Ethiopian counterparts."
"At least two groups of people have gone missing," one source familiar with the case said.
He said 10 French tourists and another group comprising a mixture of nationalities disappeared on Thursday while touring the arid Afar region in the northeast of the vast Horn of Africa nation.
Afar separatists started a low-level rebellion against the Addis Ababa Government in the 1990s, calling for the creation of a separate Afar state on territory which straddles Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
"Tourists have been kidnapped in the area before, but the last time was before the Ethiopian-Eritrean war," the source said, referring to a 1998-2000 border conflict between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
The second group, thought to be touring the Danakil Impression – one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth – included one Briton, one French national and one Italian, according to expatriate sources.
Nationalities of the other two were not immediately known.
Nine Italian tourists were captured by Afar tribesmen in a desert in 1995, then released two weeks later.
Ethiopia's Government said it was aware of the incident but could not confirm one media report the groups were kidnapped.
"The Government is monitoring the situation," an Information Ministry spokesman said, adding that a statement would be released later in the day.
In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said the case was being urgently tracked. "We understand a number of Western nationals are reported as missing. ... British Embassy staff are urgently checking with their Ethiopian counterparts."
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