Kidnapped Foreign Aid Workers Rescued in Somalia

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Released foreign aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council are welcomed by their colleagues upon arriving at the Wilson airport in Nairobi July 2 2012.Kenyan and Somali officials say four foreign aid workers kidnapped Friday from a refugee camp in Kenya and taken to neighboring Somalia have been rescued and are safe.

Officials say the aid workers were rescued overnight in Somalia after a short gunfight.

On Friday, Kenyan police said one person was killed when unknown attackers kidnapped the foreigners working with the Norwegian Refugee Council. Police say the foreigners were a Norwegian, a Colombian, and Pakistani and a Filipino. The person killed was Kenyan.

The kidnappings took place in Kenya’s sprawling Dadaab refugee complex near the border with Somalia.

No one claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, but Kenyan authorities have blamed the Somali militant group al-Shabab for previous kidnappings in Dadaab and other areas near the border.

Kenya cited kidnappings as a reason for sending military forces into Somalia last October to fight al-Shabab. The militant group has denied abducting people in Kenya.

The Dadaab complex is home to more than 450,000 Somali refugees who fled their homes because of chronic conflict, drought and poverty.