Somali Kidnappers Release Aid Workers after 3 Months
World | October 3, 2009, Saturday // 14:48| views
It was not clear if a ransom was paid for the release of the hostages, who were snatched from a remote Kenyan area in a cross-border raid on 18 July. Photo by BGNES
Three foreign aid workers kidnapped in Kenya by Somali gunmen three months ago have been freed,
The three employees of the French agency Action Against Hunger (ACF) were being flown to Nairobi from Somalia, the BBC reported.
It was not clear if a ransom was paid for the release of the hostages, who were snatched from a remote Kenyan area in a cross-border raid on 18 July.
They were reportedly taken from their office in Mandera by about 10 gunmen.
Residents in the north-eastern town said at the time that two of the hostages were from Zimbabwe and Pakistan, while the third was listed as European.
Aid workers and journalists in the area are particular targets for kidnappers and are often released after ransoms are paid.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.
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