Two Italians have been kidnapped in the south of conflict-torn Libya, Italy’s foreign ministry said on Monday, without revealing any more details about the incident or the victims’ identities. Citing Libyan sources, the Italian press said the pair worked for a ground-handling company at Ghat airport near the Algerian border. In the most recent case, four Italians working for a construction company were kidnapped in July 2015 near an oilfield operated by Italian giant ENI in the region of Mellitah, west of Tripoli. The other two were freed in March this year in a raid on Islamic State hideouts near the capital. Chaos has engulfed Libya since the 2011 Nato-backed ousting of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Source: The Guardian September 19, 2016 22:03 UTC