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Gunmen kidnap Italian nuns

  1. Posted on Monday 10 November 2008 - 16:29
    deodatus
    deofuga@yahoo.com
    By Deodatus Mfugale

    Somali gunmen on Monday kidnapped two Italian nuns when they raided a remote Kenyan border town of El Wak, witnesses have said.
    A resident in the small town said that the kidnappers used grenades and rockets to immobilize a Kenyan police post before they whisked away the nuns.
    Reacting to the incident the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that it was working with local authorities and the representative of the Vatican in Kenya. It did not give the identity of the kidnapped nuns.

    According to the Kenyan Red Cross Society, the kidnappers escaped in three stolen vehicles and it was most likely that they took the captives back to Somalia.

    No group has claimed responsibility and the Chairman of Gedo Region in Somalia ,Sheikh Hassan Hussein, told Reuters that the whereabouts of the gunmen and their victims is not known. But incidents of kidnapping and killing have always been linked to Islamist Insurgents who often target UN agency and charity workers.
    However leaders of the Islamist insurgents have refuted the allegations claiming instead that the killings were done by government insiders in order to expose its weakness and solicit international support.

    ENDS

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