Three aid workers of Medecins Sans Frontieres have been kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur region.
Two MSF Sudanese staff were also taken at the same time. However, they have since been released.
MSF said it was deeply concerned about its abducted staff and would pull out nearly all its personnel from war-torn Darfur following the attack.
The kidnapping came eight days after Sudan ordered out 13 international aid agencies from Darfur after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a war crimes arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon again urged Khartoum to rescind its expulsion order and said he was deeply concerned by the abduction.
A Canadian nurse, Italian doctor and a French administrator were among five employees of the Belgian branch of MSF who were kidnapped at gunpoint last night from their office in North Darfur.
A Sudanese official said the three were ‘okay’ and that the government was working to release them as soon as possible.
Since the an ICC warrant was issued against Mr Beshir, the court's first against a serving head of state, the UN and the US has warned about security problems in Sudan and threats to foreign targets.
MSF, also known as Doctors without Borders, said the three volunteers were seized in Saraf Umra in North Darfur and that two Sudanese personnel, captured at the same time, were released.
The French and Dutch branches of MSF were among 13 groups kicked out of Darfur last week.
The kidnapping came as tension escalated in Sudan following the decision by the International Criminal Court this month to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over accusations of war crimes in Darfur.
