Nigeria: Seven Foreign Workers Abducted in Northern Nigeria

Abuja----Seven foreign workers have been kidnapped and a security guard killed by gunmen who attacked a Lebanese construction company in Nigeria’s northern Bauchi State, authorities have said.

A security guard was killed and the workers seized, when the gunmen stormed the workers camp of the Lebanese owned construction company, Setraco at Jama’are in Bauchi state.

Police officials said on Sunday that among those taken hostage were two Lebanese workers, one Briton, an Italian and a Greek national. Another of those seized was a Filipino, a union leader at Setraco told the BBC news agency.

Mohammed Ladan, Bauchi Police Chief said the gunmen attacked a police station and a prison overnight before storming the construction firm’s compound.

"We repelled the attack on police station and the security men at the prison yard also repelled the attack, but [the attackers] burnt two vehicles in Jama'are police station," Ladan said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions which is said to be the biggest in northern Nigeria in recent times following a series of smaller incidents in the region.

Boko Haram, blamed for hundreds of deaths in northern Nigeria since 2009, has claimed several attacks on police stations as part of a struggle it says is aimed at establish an Islamic state in the mostly Muslim north.

Lebanese foreign minister Adnan Mansour said two of those being held were from Lebanon. Both Italian and Greek foreign ministries have also confirmed that one of their nationals each were among those abducted.

The Italian ambassador in Abuja was reported in the Ansa news agency saying "Italy's absolute priority is the safety of its compatriot."  UK is yet to confirm reports that a Briton was among those kidnapped, saying investigations were underway.

Abductions of foreigners and wealthy Nigerians is common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region in southern Nigeria, with oil workers and other nationals being mostly targeted due to the high ransom money their companies pay to secure their release.

A French national Francis Colump who remains missing was kidnapped in December in the northern state of Katsina in the abduction claimed by the al-Qaeda linked group Ansaru which emerged in June.

Mogadishu, Somalia

Weekend Blast Kills Two in Mogadishu

Two people have died and several others injured following a car bomb explosion in Somalia’s capital over the weekend, police have said.

Mohamed Hassan a local police officer said a remotely detonated explosive device said to be planted in a car went off in the parking area of a popular beachfront restaurant in the Lido area on Saturday, killing two people.

The restaurant called Lido Seafood in Mogadishu mostly frequented by government officials and city residents was opened last year following the ejection of Islamist al-Shabab fighters from the capital.

Several cars are reported to have been destroyed in the blast which no group has claimed responsibility so far, but the al-Qaeda-allied group has launched a spate of similar attacks in Mogadishu in recent months.

Al-shabab has vowed to fight against the government of the newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who took office in September, saying it was formed by enemies of Somalia.

On Thursday joint AU ad government forces seized control of Janalle, Aw Dhigle and Barire towns located some 80km southwest of the capital in the increasing territorial loss for the once powerful group. Ethiopian troops are also battling al-Shabab fighters in the southwest of Somalia.

Kenyan troops who so far have been integrated into the 17000-strong AU force launched an incursion into Somalia in October 2011 to root out al-Shabab it blamed for several kidnappings within its territory.

The 17000-strong AU forces continue to prop the newly installed government against the al-shabab group which remains a potential threat, still controlling pockets of territories in remote central and southern Somalia where they continue to impose harsh Islamic rule.

In the face of the mounting offense that has driven them from the pockets it controlled in Mogadishu and other strategic territories, al-Shabab has since resorted to suicide bomb and grenade attacks along roadsides and other popular meeting places in the capital.