Two aid workers with the aid group Goal, were kidnapped in Sudan's western Darfur region on 3 July 2009. Goal chief John O'Shea identified the two women as Sharon Commins (32), from Clontarf, Ireland and Hilda Kawuki (40) from Uganda.

The pair were seized by armed men from their compound in the northern Darfur town of Kutum shortly after dark. Their Sudanese guard was also taken during the incident but he was later released.

The incident followed a growing trend in Darfur kidnappings; foreign aid workers being seized from their compounds shortly after dark by well prepared teams of armed men. Compound walls and unarmed guards can do very little to deter this type of attack.

More: Irish aid worker kidnapped in Darfur

Tags: kidnapping, Darfur, Sudan, Incident