Off the wire
• Guangzhou Coast Radio Station coverage expands to Huangyan Islands  • Syria condemns IS beheading of Japanese hostages  • 1st Ld: China to speed up agri modernization through reforms  • Sudanese rebels release six Bulgarian aid workers  • URGENT: China sketches out priorities of "Belt and Road" initiatives  • Weather information for Asia-Pacific cities  • No.1 Central Document targets agricultural modernization  • 2nd LD: Gov't troops repel Boko Haram attacks, heavy shootings heard in Nigeria's Maiduguri city  • Philippines prepares for retaliatory acts after death of terrorist leader  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Feb. 1  
You are here: 　 Home

Authorities confirm release of 6 Bulgarians in South Sudan

Xinhua, February 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on Sunday confirmed the release of the six Bulgarian UN World Food Programme (WFP) workers who were taken captive by "Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North" (SPLM-North) last Monday.

"They are in a safe place in the Republic of South Sudan, and are in the hands of a team of the UN WFP," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The ministry thanked the UN WFP, the office of the UN Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, and the government of the Republic of Sudan in resolving the situation with the Bulgarian citizens, the statement said.

Earlier on Sunday, the rebels of SPLM-North said in a statement that the release of the workers came for humanitarian purposes, and called on all "peace-loving forces" in the world to work to stop the government air force's bombardment of civilians and support the demands of the Sudanese people for peace.

The Bulgarians, who were on board of a helicopter operated by a Bulgarian company working for the UN WFP, were taken captive on Monday when it made a forced landing near the town of Kadugli, the southern part of the Republic of Sudan. Endit