One of two French security advisers kidnapped by insurgents in Somalia last month has escaped from his captors, Somali police said on Wednesday.
The hostage was believed to be held by militants of the al-Shabaab Islamist group, and senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters he killed three of his captors before fleeing to the presidential palace.
”One of the two Frenchmen escaped from al-Shabaab and now he is in the palace,” Odweyne said.
”We understand he killed three al -habaab guys who were guarding him. I cannot understand how this good story happened but now he is in the hands of the government.”
The two Frenchmen were seized from a Mogadishu hotel.
The United Nations-backed government in Somalia has been facing a stubborn insurgency from al-Shabaab and another group called Hizbul Islam.
An al-Shabaab source confirmed three of its members were killed, but it was not known by whom.
”Three of my friends died but who killed them is the question. We were expecting a ransom this morning [Wednesday],” the source said. — Reuters