Two Italian hostages freed in Libya after companions die
ROME – Two Italian civilians held hostage in Libya since last July were freed on Friday, just 48 hours after two fellow captives were allegedly executed by Islamic State militants in the north African state.
The four were employees of Italian construction company Bonatti and were seized last year near the western Libyan city of Sabratha, near a compound owned by the energy group Eni.
The families of Gino Pollicardo and Filippo Calcagno confirmed the pair had been released and photos posted on Facebook showed the bearded men calling home.
“We are free and physically OK, but psychologically we are devastated,” said a handwritten note written by Pollicardo and published online by the Sabratha Media Center.
A spokesman for security forces in Sabratha, Sabri Kshada, said the two men were released during a raid early on Friday.
“(They) were found alive during a raid by the local fighters against one of the hideouts of Islamic State in Sabratha,” he said. There was no immediate confirmation of this.
On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said the two other Bonatti workers, Fausto Piano and Salvatore Failla, had probably died in a firefight on Wednesday. Their bodies have been taken to Tripoli for eventual repatriation.
Libyan security forces attacked Islamic State militants in Sabratha on Wednesday and Kshada said two of the Italians were shot dead by the Islamists shortly beforehand.