Italy: Aid workers kidnapped in Somalia
Two Italian NGO volunteers and one of their Somali colleagues have been kidnapped by armed men in Somalias Shabelle region, reported local security services sources
The kidnapping is said to have happened in a village 70 Km south of Mogadishu called Awdhegle at 6.30 am local time on May 21st. Mohamed Ibrahim Ali, a village elder declared that: ?Three volunteers, including two Italians, one man and one woman, were kidnapped by armed men?. The Somali security forces have started a manhunt to free the hostages.
The three volunteers were working for an Italian NGO, Cins (Italian North South Cooperation). The Somali hostage is Abderahman Yusuf Arale, the NGO?s local headquarters representative. Cins has been operating in Somalia since 1995, in the agricultural development and food safety sectors.
Cins has, aswell as the Mogadishu office, three detached offices in Bulo Burti, Hargeisa, and Xuddur. The Italian Foreign Affairs ministry advises not to "travel to Somalia for any reason" on its website www.viaggiaresicuri.it and stresses that there is "a kidnapping alert, especially for NGO or International Agencies workers".
More info
http://cins.pettigna.com
