2 foreign aid workers reportedly kidnapped in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – Two foreigners working for aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were kidnapped in eastern Yemen, a separatist Yemeni spokesman said Sunday.

Ali Abdullah al-Katheri, a spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), said a German national and a Mexican national working for the group were abducted on Saturday in the Hadhramaut province.

"We condemn this heinous terrorist operation,” al-Katheri added in a statement.

There was no confirmation yet from the country's internationally recognized government or Doctors Without Borders of the kidnapping.

Last month, gunmen believed to be linked to terrorist group al-Qaeda abducted five UN employees in Abyan. southern Yemen.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian crises, with nearly 80% of the country, or about 30 million people, in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 13 million are in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

* Writing by Bassel Barakat