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Kidnapped Italian Aid Worker Held in Somalia Returns Home

Harun Maruf

   AkidnappedItalian aid worker who hadbeenheldin an al-Shabab-controlled
   area of Somalia has been freed.

   Silvia Romano arrived in Rome on Sunday after being freed outside
   Mogadishu on Saturday. She spent overnight in a safe location in
   Mogadishu before being flown home.

   Security officials told VOA Somali that Romano was recovered from a
   forest near the town ofAfgoye, 30 kilometerswest of Mogadishu.

   The terms of her releasearenot known.

   Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the release in a tweet.

     Silvia Romano è stata liberata! Ringrazio le donne e gli uomini dei
     servizi di intelligence esterna. Silvia, ti aspettiamo in Italia!
     -- Giuseppe Conte (@GiuseppeConteIT) [1]May 9, 2020

   Romano, who was working for an Italian charity was abducted by gunmen
   in November 2018 in Kilifi County, Kenya. It's not clear how the gunmen
   managed to transport her into Somalia.

   Somali security sources say they believe she was kidnapped byal-Shabab
   militants who previously abducted aid workers and demanded ransom.

   The abduction of two Spanish aid workers working forDoctors Without
   Bordersin October 2011 was one of reasons Kenya government gave
   foritssubsequent military intervention into Somaliathat year.

   Al-Shabab also harbors bandits including pirates who abduct foreign
   sailors, and aid workers.

   Three Iranian sailors, two Cuban doctors, two Kenyans and a German
   nurse working for the ICRC are still being held in areas controlled
   byal-Shabab.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/GiuseppeConteIT/status/1259140447353667585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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