Three foreign aid workers have been kidnapped in Kenya and taken across the border into Somalia, officials said.

About 10 Somali gunmen crossed the border to abduct the workers from the border town of Mandera.

The nationality of the workers was not immediately known. Kidnappings are not uncommon in the region and most people are released unharmed.

Two French hostages were seized earlier this week in Mogadishu and have been handed to a Somali Islamist group.

‘Guard shot’

In the latest incident, the three aid workers were taken from their office in Mandera, in north-eastern Kenya.

Aid workers and journalists are particular targets for kidnappers and are often released after ransoms are paid.

One official told Associated Press that a security guard had been shot in the head during the abduction and was being treated in hospital for "life-threatening injuries".

The two French hostages have reportedly been handed to the al-Shabab militant group, which has carried out public executions.

A source in the Somali presidency said: "If they are in the hands of al-Shabab it is very, very serious".

The two security advisers, who were training government troops, were seized from a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.

He promised to introduce Sharia law but hardliners accuse him of being a Western stooge.</p

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