The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appealed on Sunday for information on the whereabouts of three employees abducted in Syria more than five years ago and last known to have been held by ISIS extremist group.
Breaking its silence on the case, the independent aid agency identified the three as Louisa Akavi, a nurse from New Zealand, and Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes.
US-backed forces proclaimed the capture of ISISs last territory in Syria last month, eliminating its rule over a caliphate which it had proclaimed in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
“We call on anyone with information to please come forward. If our colleagues are still being held, we call for their immediate and unconditional release,” the ICRC said in a statement.
“Our latest credible information indicates that Louisa was alive in late 2018. The ICRC has never been able to learn more details about Alaa and Nabil, and their fate is not known.”
The three were traveling in a Red Cross convoy that was delivering supplies to medical facilities in Idlib, northwestern Syria, when it was stopped by armed men on Oct 13, 2013.
Four other people abducted with them were released the next day.
“Following the fall of the last territory held by Islamic State group (ISIS), we fear there is an extra risk of losing track of Louisa, though we remain hopeful this period will instead open new opportunities for us to learn more about her whereabouts and well-being,” the ICRC said.
Akavi, now 62, joined the ICRC in 1988 and worked in hotspots including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Somalia and Sri Lanka.
She has been held longer than anyone in ICRCs 156Read More – Source
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