Swiss woman abducted in Sudan's Darfur: Foreign Ministry

GENEVA: A Swiss woman, reportedly working for an aid organisation, has been abducted in the conflict-torn Darfur region of Sudan, Switzerland's foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The Swiss foreign ministry told AFP in an email it was "aware of the case of a Swiss woman kidnapped in Sudan (Darfur)."

"Our local representatives are in contact with the local authorities," it said, adding that the case was being investigated.

The foreign ministry did not provide any details on the identity of the abducted woman or the circumstances surrounding her kidnapping.

But social media reports indicated she had been working for a Swiss non-governmental organisation providing aid to children, and that she was snatched from her home in northern Darfur.

Her abduction adds to an already lengthy list of foreign and Sudanese aid workers who have been abducted in the region in recent years.

More than 2.5 million people have fled their homes since 2003, when a conflict erupted in Darfur after ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.

Most of the displaced live in camps, after escaping fighting between government forces and rebels that the United Nations says has killed around 300,000 people.