BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) – Gunmen kidnapped a German man and his local wife in northern Somalia on Saturday, a local official said.

“They were heading to visit his in-laws. They took them towards the hills to the east. We have sent many troops to save them,” Muse Gelle Yusuf, governor of the northern port town of Bosasso, told Reuters.

Yusuf said the German had been in the town for several weeks, spending time with his wife’s family. He did not name the man.

Yusub Mohamed, a relative of the abducted woman, saw the kidnappers stop their vehicle.

“They grabbed the German and his wife at gunpoint and drove them away,” he said.

The kidnapping of foreigners and aid workers for ransom is common in lawless Somalia, where the Western-backed interim government is fighting Islamist insurgents.

Last month, pirates from the north of the Horn of Africa country freed two German hostages who they had held hostage since June. A member of the gang said a ransom of $1 million had been paid.