Following the deaths of three women in Yemen earlier this week, authorities Wednesday continued to search for the remaining six hostages, including five Germans.
German intelligence services believe that all nine hostages taken in Yemen have been killed by al-Qaida, daily <i>SĂĽddeutsche Zeitung</i> reported on Tuesday.
Nine foreigners, including women and children, have been kidnapped in a volatile mountainous area of northern Yemen, an official said on Sunday amid conflicting reports over their fate.
A German woman and her parents, freed by kidnappers in Yemen on Friday after a five-day ordeal, are still in the country, a source close to the German embassy said, contradicting an earlier report they had already left for home.
Yemeni tribesmen who are holding a German family hostage are demanding the release of two Yemenis detained in the United States for supporting Al-Qaeda, a tribal source told AFP.
Yemeni security forces laid siege on Tuesday to a remote mountain town where tribesmen were holding hostage a German couple and their daughter, a security official said.
A German couple and their daughter have been kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen and are being held in a mountainous area of the impoverished Arab country, officials said on Monday.
