Two Kenyans kidnapped by gunmen in Somalia now released

November 11, 2009

Two Kenyans who were seized by armed gunmen at a market in Somalia's capital Mogadishu were released today, according to reports.

The Kenyans, workers of the printing agency Hamar Adde, had been taken from the Bakara market, the biggest trading centre in the Somali capital, at gunpoint on Sunday. Eyewitnesses said that two Somalis in the company of the Kenyans were kidnapped as well, but later were soon released.

"They are safe [...] We gave them a vacation," said the manager of the Hamar Adde printing company, Abdukar Ali, where the kidnapped men are employed. He added that the two Kenyans have flown back to Nairobi.

Kidnappings, frequently targeting aid workers and foreigners, are commonplace in Somalia. The country has not had a stable government since 1991, when warlords ousted former leader Siad Barre in a coup.