2 Abducted Italian Nuns Freed in Somalia
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Two Italian nuns kidnapped in November have been freed in Somalia, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The nuns — Maria Teresa Olivero, 60, and Caterina Giraudo, 67 — were working on hunger and health programs in the northeastern town of El Wak, Kenya, when gunmen dragged them into Somalia in a rare cross-border kidnapping on Nov. 10, 2008.
The early morning abduction began when six gunmen firing automatic weapons hurled a hand grenade and fired a rocket at Kenyan police, a local aid worker said after the abduction. The gunmen then seized the nuns and drove them to the border in three stolen vehicles.
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The ministry did not immediately give details of their release.
The nuns had been working in Kenya for decades and were among the few non-Muslims in town, the Catholic Information Service said. They ran a small dispensary and offered medical care to malnourished children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.