Dutch Leader of Medical Aid Group Abducted
RUSSIA
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Gunmen in southern Russia kidnapped a Dutch leader of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in the second abduction of an aid worker in the troubled North Caucasus region since July, officials said.
Arjan Erkel, head of the medical aid group’s mission in Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering Chechnya, was taken late Monday outside Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital, police said.
Erkel’s kidnapping followed the July abduction in Chechnya of Russian aid worker Nina Davidovich. Medecins Sans Frontieres and the United Nations suspended aid operations in Chechnya after her kidnapping.
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