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Gunmen kidnap four in Somali capital's main market

Mon Nov 9, 2009 3:23am EST
* Two men later released, fate of others unknown

* Incident happened at main market controlled by insurgents



MOGADISHU, Nov 9 (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. (Reporting by Abdi Guled and Ibrahim Mohamed, Writing by George Obulutsa, Editing by Giles Elgood)


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