Armed bandits have kidnapped four local aid workers employed by an Italian charity in Mogadishu, a representative of the organization said on Tuesday.
Elio Sommavilla, who heads the Water For Life's Somali section, said gunmen stopped the workers on Monday afternoon en route to Mogadishu airport, diverting their two cars into the bush.
A United Nations employee travelling with the group was also taken hostage, Sommavilla said.
''It is not yet clear exactly where the kidnapping took place, whether in Mogadishu or in Afgooye [a town 30km outside the capital],'' he added.
Monday's attack comes six weeks after an incident in which three workers for another Italian charity were kidnapped. The whereabouts of the two Italians and Somali man, who were taken by gunmen on May 21, remains unknown.
Two of the latest victims, Mahamud Abdi Aaden and Faaduma Suldaan Abdirahman, were booked on a flight for Italy, where they were due to receive an award for their work during a ceremony this Friday.
Their driver and a local assistant were also taken hostage. There has been no further news of the group since they disappeared.
The incident follows a spate of kidnappings involving Somali and foreign humanitarian workers, bringing the total number of victims this year to 14.
Three Somalis are currently being held hostage, as well as four foreigners, including the two Italians.
Two UN workers from Sweden and Denmark were released on Saturday after just a few hours in captivity, thanks to the intercession of local villagers.
In Italy, the foreign ministry has requested a media blackout on negotiations to free the two Italian workers.
Iolanda Occhipinti, 55, and Giuliano Paganini, 64, were working for the charity Cooperazione Italiana Nord-Sud (CINS) in Awdigle, some 65km south of Mogadishu, when they were kidnapped.
A local member of CINS, Abderahman Yusuf, was taken hostage at the same time.
The foreign ministry says it is working with local authorities to secure their release and that all three are well but has refused to supply any further details.
Most kidnappings in Somalia are carried out for financial rather than political reasons, and are usually followed by high ransom demands.
Aid workers employed by foreign organizations are particularly attractive targets.
The two-year-old conflict between Islamist groups and the ineffectual central government, backed by African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces, has left around 2.5 million Somalis - 35% of the population - dependent on humanitarian aid for survival.
The AU on Tuesday voted to extend its peacekeeping mission in the country but urged the UN to provide assistance.
So far, only 2,600 of the 8,000 troops the AU initially planned to deploy are in Somalia, failing to stem the rising levels of violence.
