Five Chinese oil workers were slain by kidnappers in the Sudanese oil region of Abyei. Photo by Al Jazeera
Kidnappers holding nine Chinese oil workers killed five of them, the Sudanese foreign ministry says.
Ali al-Sadiq, a spokesman for the ministry, said two other kidnapped workers managed to flee while two remained in captivity and added the kidnappers had demanded that Chinese oil firms leave the region and were sending a message by killing the hostages.
The nine men had been seized near the disputed oil region of Abyei on October 19.The Chinese team were working for the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
The abduction of the Chinese men is the third such incident over the past year in the region, the source of a large part of Sudan's oil wealth.