If you are planning to travel to the Sahara in Southern
Algeria, you may want to re-think your plans. 8 Austrian tourists have
just gone missing, bringing the number of foreign travellers who have
disappeared in the region since mid February to 29: 16 Germans (in several
different groups), 4 Swiss and 1 Dutch national have all gone missing
in the desert since mid-February. All were travelling by motorbike or
car and most disappeared between the towns of Ouargla and the towns of
Illizi and Djanet in the far south of Algeria. Smugglers and drug traffickers
are known to haunt the area around southern Algeria, near the borders
with Niger and Libya, and there are fears the tourists may have been kidnapped.
Austria has also issued a travel warning for the country, urging all its
citizens to leave the country or contact its embassy in the country.