“Two members of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo are reported missing in that country,” the UN said on Monday, adding that it is doing “everything possible” to locate them.
The Swede as well as an American UN worker and four Congolese nationals accompanying them were kidnapped on Sunday in the province of Kasaï-Central, according to the DRC government.
Congolese security forces and the UN's MONUSCO mission in the DRC spent Monday using helicopters to look for the missing people, but were unable to do so, and resumed the search on Tuesday.
“We’re using all available resources. The search is still ongoing, they are still missing. We still don't have any proof that they have been kidnapped or killed. We're looking in the area and hope to find them alive,” MONUSCO communications head Charles Bambara told Swedish news agency TT.
Sweden's Foreign Ministry (UD) said on Tuesday morning that there was nothing new to report on the missing Swede.
“There's no new information from what was said yesterday. There is a Swede being looked for in Congo. But we won't go into details about how the search is going,” UD press spokesperson Patric Nilsson told The Local.
UD has since 2006 advised against travelling to the DRC, where there is a conflict between security forces and militias.
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