Two Spaniards and an Italian aid worker were kidnapped by gunmen at a refugee camp in Algeria, officials said on Sunday. According to initial reports, at least one of the hostages was injured in the attack as well as a local guard. Officials in both Algeria and Mauritania said the kidnappers were likely linked to the al-Qaida affiliate in the Maghreb, or AQIM, but there was no way of verifying the claim as no group had yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Algerian Foreign Ministry spokesman Amar Blani confirmed the kidnapping, but did not comment on the motive or the identity of the kidnappers, according to the state news agency APS. The attack was on a camp for refugees from the Western Sahara, a territory annexed by Morocco in 1975 after colonial ruler Spain pulled out. Many in Western Sahara still claim independence from Morocco. The Algeria-based Polisario movement, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara and runs the refugee camp, said that gunmen kidnapped the three just before midnight Saturday in the Rabuni camp near Tindouf, Algeria. In a statement, it said the attackers came from the direction of neighboring Mali in four-wheel drive vehicles and “left from where they came.” It identified the hostages as Italian woman Rossella Urru, Spanish woman Ainhoa Fernandez Rincon and Spanish man Enrico Gonyans. Polisario said Gonyans and one of the workers' Saharawi guards were injured in the attack, without elaborating. “The Saharawi authorities have taken measures to track down the perpetrators of this kidnapping,” it said. The hostages location is also unknown at present. BM
