Factbox: Pinoys among foreigners kidnapped in Africa since 2008

Gunmen kidnapped four foreign aid workers at Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp near the border with Somalia on Friday in the latest attack since Kenya sent troops into Somalia to try to crush Islamist militants.

Here are details of foreigners held by kidnappers in Africa:

KENYA/SOMALIA

Oct. 13, 2011 - Two Spanish aid workers employed by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were kidnapped at Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp near the border with Somalia.

June 29, 2012 - Gunmen kidnapped four foreign refugee workers and a driver at Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp. The four were all employed by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The driver, from Kenya, was shot and killed.

SOMALIA

April 2008 - Gunmen seized a Briton and a Kenyan working on a U.N.-funded project in Middle Juba, southern Somalia.

July 14, 2009 - Somali gunmen kidnapped two French security advisers in Mogadishu, one escaped in August 2009.

PIRACY

Pirates based on the coast of Somalia have preyed on shipping in the Indian Ocean despite dozens of international warships trying to stop them.

More than 1,000 sailors are believed to have been held hostage for ransom, sometimes for months. Many have been tortured and some died in captivity, but most have been freed after shipowners paid their captors.

-- The nationalities of those kidnapped reflects the global nature of the shipping business - from Filipino to Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and European sailors.

-- According to the latest figures from SaveOurSeafarers there are 13 ships being held and 195 hostages.

NIGERIA

Jan. 26, 2012 - Gunmen kidnapped Edgar Fritz Raupach, a German working on a construction site in the city of Kano. He was killed in a rescue attempt on May 31.

Feb. 28 - Pirates opened fire on the Breiz Clipper, a Dutch cargo ship, near Port Harcourt, kidnapping the ship's master and an engineer.

MALI

Nov. 23, 2011 - Two Frenchmen, an engineer and a technician working for a local cement firm, were abducted from their hotel in Hombori in northern Mali.

Nov. 25, 2011 - Gunmen seized three people and killed a fourth on a street in Timbuktu. Those kidnapped were from South Africa, the Netherlands and Sweden. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

ALGERIA

Oct. 23, 2011 - Two Spaniards and an Italian were abducted from a refugee camp near Tindouf in western Algeria. A ransom of 30 million euros ($37 million) is wanted by the kidnappers.

NIGER

Sept. 16, 2010 - Seven foreigners were kidnapped in Arlit, in Niger's northern uranium mining zone. AQIM claimed responsibility and demanded a 90-million-euro ransom. Some of the foreigners, including five French nationals, were taken by their captors to Mali the next day.

Feb. 25, 2011 - A Togolese, a Malagasy man and the French wife of one of the employees were freed. - Reuters

Sources: Reuters/www.geopolicity.com/IMB/OneEarthFuture/http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/http://www.saveourseafarers.com/