GAROWE, Somalia : A South Korean was shot and wounded Thursday during a botched kidnapping in Somalia's northern breakaway state of Puntland, witnesses and officials told AFP.

"A group of heavily armed men wanted to kidnap him and he was shot after the plan aborted," said Ahmed Abdi, a local journalist in Garowe, the capital of Puntland.

The Russian doctor who treated the South Korean man said his patient was in stable condition. "His wounds are not life-threatening," he said.

"He was very shocked by the attack but he was unable to explain who his assailants were," the doctor added.

A Puntland police officer speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said the attackers fled the scene after failing to abduct the South Korean national.

"There was a plan to kidnap him and demand a ransom... We are getting some information about the identity of the attackers and we will take immediate action," the officer said.

The reason behind the victim's presence in the lawless region was not immediately clear.

Foreigners as well as Somalis employed by foreign organisations have been systematically targeted by kidnappers in Somalia in recent months.

Puntland is a also a hub for pirates hijacking cargo ships off the coast of Somalia and for traffickers smuggling everything from weapons to people across the Gulf of Aden.

- AFP /ls