Gunmen kidnap four in Somali capital's main market

Mon Nov 9, 2009 8:37am GMT
 

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped two Kenyans and two Somalis working for a printing company in an area of Mogadishu controlled by Islamist insurgents, witnesses said.

Ten masked men with automatic weapons went to Bakara Market -- controlled by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group -- late on Sunday and took their captives to an undisclosed location. They later released the Somalis.

While kidnappings are common in Somalia, foreigners and aid workers are usuallu the targets.

"They entered the Hamar Adde printing centre, went away with ... four workers, among them two Kenyans famous in this area .... but they later released the two Somalis," Ahmed Farah, a shopkeeper in Bakara, told Reuters late on Sunday.

Those released declined to comment on their abduction.

Photo
Photo
Life with the lions

Kenya’s Maasai warriors are known for being fearless lion killers but times have changed and the country’s lion’s population is in danger of being wiped out. Now the Maasai in southern Kenya are taking part in an initiative to preserve the big cats.  Blog 

 
Photo
Is an independent south Sudan now inevitable?

So, is it now inevitable that Sudan’s oil-producing south will decide to split away from the north as an independent country in a looming secession referendum in 2011?  Blog 

 
Photo
Do Ethiopia’s politicians mean it on democracy?

On the evening of the 20th of March 1878, Ethiopia’s two great rivals, Emperors Yohannes IV and Menelik II, came face-to-face to thrash out their differences.  Blog 

 
Photo
The African brain drain

Africa is suffering from a massive brain drain and it’s questionable whether enough of those highly motivated students studying in America will return home in large enough numbers to really make a difference...  Blog 

 
Photo
Is Sudan’s Darfur crisis getting too much attention?

Activists often say that the world is not paying enough attention to Sudan’s Darfur crisis. But could the opposite be true?   Blog 

 
Photo
Vatican synod urges corrupt African leaders to quit

Roman Catholic bishops called on corrupt Catholic leaders in Africa on Friday to repent or resign for giving the continent and the Church a bad name.  Blog