Hostages Killed in Yemen

Acc0rding to the London Evening Standard , at least seven of the nine foreign hostages kidnapped while on a picnic last week, have been discovered dead in Yemen.   The kidnap victims are:  a German doctor, his wife and three children, two German nurses, an unidentified Brit and a South Korean teacher’s wife.   The Korean woman who has been identified as Eom (34) has, according to the Korea Times,  ”been living in Saada Province since last August and was doing medical volunteer work. She is reported to have worked with Korean doctors at the hospital and tutored their children.”

There seems to be some confusion as to the number of victims discovered.  Some sources claim that all nine hostages were killed while others claim that two of the German children survived and were handed over to authorities.  The victims were shot and mutilated.

The AFP interviewed a rebel spokesman for the Huthi Zaidi, an offshoot Shiite Islamic group that is said to be responsible for the kidnappings.  He said “These staged kidnappings that we hear about these days are mere farces that would not fool anyone.” 

While it is not uncommon for foreigners to be kidnapped in Yemen, it is extremely rare for them to be murdered.  Apparently the last time hostages were killed was in December 1998 when four hostages were killed during a rescue attempt.