Index – Abroad – Italian humanitarian worker returns from Kenya after a year and a half of Islamist captivity

Italian aid worker Silvia Romano, who was kidnapped in Kenya a year and a half ago by Islamist militants, arrived in Italy on Sunday, writes the MTI.

Romano was wearing a headscarf and traditional African clothing when he arrived at the airport in Rome. Despite the restriction rules imposed due to the coronavirus epidemic, he fell into the arms of his loved ones.

Silvia Romano arrives home on May 11 at the Rome Ciampino airport.

Photo: Fabio Frustaci / AFP

A volunteer from the Italian NGO AfricaMiele, which runs child protection programs in Africa, was kidnapped by gunmen in November 2018 in Chakama, eighty kilometers from Malindi, Kenya. Kenyan hostages take Italian woman to Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, near al-Qaeda transmitted. Three members of the Kenyan kidnappers have been arrested and brought to justice in their home country.

Silvia Romano has been detained in eight different places since November 2018. According to press reports, her release is due to the cooperation of the Italian, Turkish and Somali secret services. According to other sources, the woman was released thirty kilometers from the Somali capital Mogadishu. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera knows that the Italian side paid a ransom for it.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who met the woman at the airport, thanked the intelligence services for their contribution to the liberation of Romano, but did not provide further details. “For Silvia, this is 18 months it was a great suffering and his family has been suffering for a year and a half, “Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on his Facebook page.