Two Italian Aid Workers Kidnapped in Somalia

The article doesn't mention who the kidnappers are, but I'm 95% sure they're terrorists belonging to the Islamic Courts movement. Reuters

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali gunmen stormed the office of an aid group and kidnapped two Italian aid workers and a Somali colleague on Wednesday, officials and residents said.

In the latest abduction of foreigners, the gunmen blindfolded the guards, then abducted the aid workers at the offices in Awdigle town, 65 km (40 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, residents said.

The Italians worked for an aid group called CINS, which carries out agricultural projects in the area. An aid group official said the Italians were a man and a woman.

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Kidnapping is a lucrative business in Somalia and abductors generally treat their captives well in anticipation of a hefty ransom.

"The gunmen came in and abducted two Italian colleagues, a man and a lady," said an official from the aid group, speaking on condition of anonymity. One resident said a Somali aid worker was also seized.

A senior police official in the area told Reuters the police would try to negotiate the hostages' release.

"Our first priority is to try to resolve the abduction through dialogue. If it fails, then we will decide what action to take," Nurie Ali Farah, deputy police chief of the region said from Marka town, the provincial headquarters.

Somali gunmen are still holding two aid workers, a Briton and a Kenyan, abducted in April. Earlier this week, gunmen kidnapped a Kenyan university lecturer in the capital and have since demanded $100,000 for his return.