More aid workers abducted in Somalia

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MOGADISHU, Somalia, July 2 (UPI) -- Italian charity officials say Somali gunmen have kidnapped four aid workers in Mogadishu, two of whom were on their way to receive humanitarian awards.

Officials with the Italian non-profit Water For Life said Mahamud Abdi Aaden and Faaduma Suldaan Abdirahman were en route to the Mogadishu airport for a flight to Italy where they were due to receive an award for their work when they were abducted by armed bandits, the ANSA news agency reported Wednesday.

Their driver and a U.N. employee traveling with them were also seized, bringing to 14 the number of foreign aid workers who have been kidnapped this year in Somalia.

The Italian government is also negotiating with Somali kidnappers to secure the release of Iolanda Occhipinti, 55, and Giuliano Paganini, 64, who were working for the charity Cooperazione Italiana Nord-Sud in Awdigle, Somalia, when they, too, were kidnapped, ANSA reported.