Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordanian authorities through the Foreign Ministry and Public Security Directorate (PSD) and in coordination with UNAMID mission are still tracking the case of the two Jordanian officers kidnapped in Darfur Saturday morning, a government source said.

The government source told 'Ammon News' that the two kidnapped officers are 1st Lieutenant Ahmad Abdul Jabbar Zaydan Al Qaisi and 2nd Lieutenant Nabil Saeed Ibrahim Al Kilani, both members of the Public Security Directorate.

The two officers were working with the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force, UNAMID, in Darfur, Sudan when they were kidnapped on Saturday, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Ali Ayed said.

Ayed explained that the two officers were kidnapped at 7 AM Saturday morning by an armed group that intercepted them while walking to a UNAMID transport dispatch point with a group of four Jordanian PSD officers working with the United Nations in a humanitarian mission.

Ayed added that the two officers were kidnapped along with their vehicle by an armed group, their whereabouts are yet unknown.

""The officers, who had been walking to a UNAMID transport dispatch point, were 100 metres (yards) from their residence in the city's Almatar area when they were blocked by three individuals in a 4x4 vehicle. The perpetrators seized the peacekeepers at gunpoint and sped off," the UNAMID peacekeeping mission said in a statement on Saturday.

The two officers work as police advisors to UNAMID and were unarmed.

The Minister said that the Jordanian government, PSD and the Foreign Ministry are coordinating with Unamid in following the case closely since the time of the incident. UN mission in Darfur has formed a team to track the case and coordinate with Jordanian authorities.

The UN peacekeeping mission says that they have had no contact with the kidnappers yet.

Ayed added that initial information indicates that the two officers are unharmed, stressing that the two other Jordanian colleagues, who had witnessed the abduction, are in good health as well.

He noted that initial information confirm that the two officers were targeted for being part of the United Nations cadres in Darfur, and not because they are Jordanian.

He stressed that Jordanian authorities will continue to follow the case closely and exert efforts to release the two officers and ensure their safe return.

At least 19 foreigners have been abducted in Darfur since March 2009. All have since been freed, except an American aid worker who was abducted in May, whose captors are demanding a ransom.