The two were kidnapped Monday in Ogaden, an arid region where rebels have been fighting for independence from Ethiopia, the Paris-based group said.
Medecins du Monde ? which translates as Doctors of the World ? did not give the names or nationalities of the kidnapped staffers, nor did it give details of the kidnapping.
The aid group said it was in contact with Ethiopian authorities as well as with the two staffers’ families and other Medecins du Monde employees in the Horn of Africa country.
Ethiopian government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle said Tuesday evening that he could not confirm the kidnapping or give any details.
A Somali government administrator near the border said security officials had gone to Balanbale village to investigate an alleged sighting of a sport utility vehicle containing armed men and two white people, but the vehicle had left by the time they arrived.
“Now we are pursuing them, and if we find them, we will forcibly release them,” Ali Sheik told The Associated Press, referring to the aid workers.
Medecins du Monde’s site in Ethiopia’s Somali region is near the southeastern town of Shilabo, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Somali border, according to staffers of the aid group in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
One staffer said the hostages had been kidnapped while visiting a local health facility. The staff members spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Ethnic Somalis have been fighting in the Ogaden region for more than a decade, seeking greater autonomy or an independent state. Somalia lost control of the region ? the size of Britain and home to around 4 million people ? in a war in 1977.
The region is being explored for oil and gas. Ethiopian forces stepped up their operations after the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April 2007, killing 74 people.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front condemned the kidnapping in a statement Tuesday, adding that it will do all it can to free the aid workers and “will not rest until the culprits are dealt with in an appropriate manner.” The group did not elaborate.
Drought and the rebellion have combined to create severe food shortages in the region. Because of the military campaign, the government has restricted humanitarian agencies and others from accessing the Ogaden.
___
Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Anita Powell in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.
