3 Red Cross employees abducted in eastern Congo

KINSHASA, Congo – Three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross have been abducted in eastern Congo.

The organization's Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart said Tuesday on Twitter it is doing everything it can to bring its staff back safely.

The Congo-based Center of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said the three were working as drivers for the Red Cross. It said they were abducted Tuesday while driving from Goma to Kibirizi in Congo's North Kivu province. Witnesses told them the drivers were taken by militia fighters into the bush. Their jeeps were abandoned on the road.

The local rights group condemned the kidnappings.

Multiple armed groups are active in eastern Congo.