ICC Note:

Al-Shabaab freed 7 humanitarian aid workers yesterday as part of a trade for weapons. They had been taken captive on July 16 and were held for the next 8 days. It is encouraging that they were released, but it is not good that the terrorist organization has been able to get more weaponry. They have been very active in Somalia and surrounding nations for the past several years. We pray that the released prisoners are in good health, that they are able to reintegrate with jobs and families, and that they are safe from here on. We also pray that the terrorist groups is unable to use the weapons that they received and that they no longer hurt these people.

07/25/2017 Somalia (AA) – Seven Somali humanitarian workers were released by the al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group al-Shabaab after eight days in captivity on Monday, authorities said.

The aid workers were abducted on July 16 near the city of Baidoa 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu.

Mohamed Isak Ibrahim, National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) director in Baidoa, told Anadolu Agency by phone that seven aid workers had been released by al-Shabaab on Monday.

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