A male elderly Israeli citizen has been kidnapped in Ethiopia, Israel’s Foreign Ministry disclosed on Tuesday evening.
In a statement the ministry said the Israeli citizen was kidnapped several days ago in Ethiopia while on a trip to the country. The kidnapped Israeli citizen was reportedly in the east African country for unspecified medical treatment purposes.
The Israel Foreign Ministry statement said the elderly Israeli national was kidnapped in the Gonder region of Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region.
The Ministry’s statement didn’t disclose the identities of the kidnappers. It also didn’t specify the reason for the elderly Israeli national’s kidnapping though other media outlets have reported the elderly man is being held for ransom.
In May, errant gunfire in the northern Ethiopia city of Gondar reportedly killed three Ethiopian Jews and wounded nine other Ethiopian Jews.
Citing an anonymous source in the Ethiopian Jewish community, the online based media outlet Times of Israel disclosed at the time the fatalities happened during violent protests against the Ethiopian federal government decision to “disband” the Amhara region special forces.
