An Italian aid worker who was kidnapped in Kenya in late 2018 has been freed.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte welcomed the release of Silvia Romano, who was a 23-year-old volunteer with the humanitarian group Africa Milele when she was abducted in the coastal trading centre of Chakama.
Mr Conte tweeted thanks to the foreign intelligence services and said: “Silvia, we’re waiting for you in Italy!”
Silvia Romano è stata liberata! Ringrazio le donne e gli uomini dei servizi di intelligence esterna. Silvia, ti aspettiamo in Italia!
— Giuseppe Conte (@GiuseppeConteIT) May 9, 2020
Italian news media reported that the young woman ended up in Somalia in the hands of an armed group linked to Islamic extremists.
Al-Shabab militants have been blamed for a series of kidnappings of foreigners along Kenya’s coast.