ABUJA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers were killed and an expatriate was abducted by unknown gunmen who attacked a road construction site in southern Nigeria, according to local police on Thursday.
The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon near Ukanafun local government area of the southeastern state of Akwa Ibom, the police said.
The nationality of the expatriate, an engineer, is yet to be ascertained by the police.
The two soldiers were escorting the expatriate on an inspection of a road project in Inen Ekeffe village of the state when the gunmen struck, shooting heavily.
A local source said the gunmen escaped with the deceased soldiers' rifles.
Obong Johnson Obosi, head of the Inen Ekeffe village, said a team of soldiers from a nearby military barracks quickly responded to a distress call by locals and evacuated the bodies of their colleagues.
State police spokesman Odiko Macdon told reporters that security agents had launched a search for the culprits.
