Somali gunmen kidnap two foreigners

Somali gunmen on Tuesday kidnapped two foreign contractors working for a project funded by the United Nations in southern Somalia, one of their colleagues said.

"One Briton and one Kenyan working for the UN's FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) were kidnapped by clan militiamen somewhere between Bule and Sakow towns in Middle Jubba province," a Somali aid worker, who asked not to be named, said.

"We understand that the British man was wounded during an exchange of gunfire between the Somali bodyguards and the militia," he added.

The aid worker said the two had been working for the FAO-funded Somalia Water and Land Information Management project.