BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - Somali security forces on Thursday hunted for the kidnappers of two foreign aid workers who were whisked away by gunmen after a firefight into a mountainous region of Puntland, local officials said.
Spanish doctor Mercedes Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bouza worked for the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) and were seized by gunmen on Wednesday as they drove to a hospital in Bosasso, a northern port.
It was the latest in a string of kidnappings in the chaotic Horn of Africa country's semi-autonomous Puntland region.
Local troops surrounded the gunmen and a firefight flared on Wednesday. Two kidnappers were arrested during the battle, but the rest of the gang escaped with their two female captives into the hills south of Bosasso.
"We do not know the exact location where the kidnappers are holding the aid workers, but we know they are somewhere in the mountains. We are trying to establish communication with them," Ahmed Saeed Ow-nur, Puntland's fisheries minister, told Reuters.
A Spanish diplomat, Mcolas Nargim, and an Argentine, Fernando Rolandelli, arrived in Puntland on Thursday for discussions with the government
"We came here to find out more about the condition of the two abducted aid workers," Nargim told journalists.
Puntland President Adde Muse told Reuters on Wednesday that according to his reports the hostages were "doing fine".
Somali kidnappers are known to treat their hostages well and almost never kill them, viewing them as an investment for which they expect a ransom.
Muse said his government was ready to talk to the kidnappers to ensure the safety of the aid workers, who were running a nutritional project for the Spanish branch of MSF.
"The police are still after them," he said.
The latest abduction came two days after gunmen in Puntland freed a French journalist, Gwen Le Gouil, whom they held for eight days demanding an $80,000 ransom. It is not publicly known if this was paid.
Despite being considered relatively stabile compared with the rest of Somalia, Puntland has become increasingly associated with kidnappings, hijackings and piracy.
Foreigners in Somalia often run foul of local clans by failing to seek permission to travel through their territories.
(Writing by Daniel Wallis, editing by Tim Cocks and Mary Gabriel)
SOURCE: Reuters, December 27, 2007