* Militiamen had asked to use airstrip * Residents say aid workers boarded plane (Recasts with aid agency confirmation) By Sahra Abdi NAIROBI, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Somali gunmen on Saturday released three foreigners working for Action Against Hunger who were seized from northern Kenya in a cross-border raid in July, a rebel official and the aid organisation said. "They have just been released and taken to Nairobi," Sheikh Abdirisak, an official with insurgent group Hizbul Islam, told Reuters by phone from Luq in southwestern Somalia. He said militiamen came to Luq several days ago and asked to use the airstrip. "The administration accepted their proposal and worked the security of the deal," he said. A representative for Action Against Hunger in Kenya confirmed three of its workers had been released on Saturday and said they were in good health. Cross-border raids are fairly common in the region, but usually involve cattle rustlers or gangs of robbers preying on business people in both countries. Ill-funded Kenyan security forces can do little to police the vast, impoverished area. It was not clear whether a ransom had been paid for the release of the aid workers, taken from Kenya's remote Mandera province that borders Somalia and Ethiopia. The aid organisation has asked for the nationalities of the hostages not to be released. "I have seen with my own eyes those three aid workers being put on a plane heading to Kenya this morning," said Mohamed Ahmed, a member of a militia loyal to Hizbul Islam in Luq. Luq resident Ahmed Igal said the same. (Additional reporting by David Clarke in Nairobi, Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu; Writing by David Clarke; Editing by Alison Williams)
Turkana women sing traditional songs during a drought and peace meeting in Lobei village of Turkana district in North-western Kenya, October 2, 2009. The Turkana people are among the worst affected ...
