SANAA (AFP) – Yemen said on Tuesday that DNA tests have confirmed that five bodies found in the northern mountains were those of Somalis and not of Europeans kidnapped last year.

“DNA tests were conducted in Sanaa for the five bodies and it has been confirmed that they were the remains of Somalis, not Europeans,” a security official told AFP.

He said that the tests were done “with help from German experts.”

The corpses, which were found in Al-Jawf province on Saturday, were feared to be the bodies of a German family, part of a group of seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean who were kidnapped last June.

The bodies of two Germans and the South Korean were recovered shortly after the abduction. Five Germans — a couple and their three children — and the Briton remain missing.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Monday that the recovered bodies were “highly likely” not to be those of the German hostages.

“It appears highly likely that the remains recovered in Yemen are not those of the kidnapped Germans,” he said in a statement.

“The German government will continue to do all it can to ensure that our compatriots… are freed,” he added.

The adult hostages were members of a humanitarian organisation.