A Frenchman working for the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has been kidnapped in eastern Chad. The humanitarian agency has announced a temporary suspension of its activities in the eastern part of the country.
Laurent Maurice, 37, was seized on Monday evening near the border with Sudan, the ICRC statement said. The agronomist was in Chad since the beginning of the year and was monitoring the latest harvests there.
Mr Maurice was the second French citizen working for the ICRC to be kidnapped in Africa in recent weeks. Last month, Gauthier Lefevre was captured in Sudan's Darfur region. Mr Lefevre - head of the ICRC's office in el-Geneina, West Darfur - is still in the hands of his kidnappers.
There has been a recent surge in the number of abductions targeting foreign workers aimed at raising large ransoms.
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