Two journalists, one of whom is reported to be Irish, have been kidnapped in the city of Bosasso in the Somali province of Puntland.
There is some confusion over the identity of the two journalists, with various news agencies reporting they were Irish, British or Spanish.
Bile Qabow Sade, an adviser to the president of Puntland, told CNN the journalists were Irish and British. He said they were kidnapped in the market in Bosasso's centre, but did not know which organisations they worked for.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said she was aware of the reports but they had not had any requests for consular assistance. She pointed out that previous such reports had turned out to be mistaken.
A Spanish Foreign Ministry spokesman in Madrid said one of the kidnapped journalists was Spanish photographer Jose Cendon, while in London, a Foreign Office spokesman could not confirm that Britons were involved in the kidnapping in Puntland: "We are checking these reports, but have no confirmation as yet."
Abshir Abdi Jama, a police spokesman in the northern region of Puntland, was unable to confirm the pair’s identity, but said they were kidnapped while working on a story about piracy.
Mr Jama said security officials may free the hostages by force. “We will not accept anyone paying a ransom, so we will secure their release,” he added.
Ali Abdi Aware, Puntland state minister for foreign relations, said the kidnappers may have taken the men into the mountains.
Somalia has gained international attention since pirates attacked the Sirius Staron November 15th, 420 nautical miles off the coast. Twenty-five people are being held on the Saudi-owned ship.
The 1,080ft (330m) tanker was fully laden with two million barrels of oil when pirates boarded it and is the largest vessel ever to be hijacked in a region.