BENGHAZI, Libya—The head of Sabratha council said two Italian hostages were freed on Friday from ISIS custody in the western Libyan city.
Hussein al-Zawadi said that Gino Pollicardo and Filippo Calcagno were freed from a house in a northwestern district of Sabratha. The area has seen fierce fighting between ISIS fighters and Sabratha’s local forces, a coalition of militia and forces loyal to the government in Tripoli.
The Italians had managed to break down the front door themselves, and local fighters came to their aid after being tipped-off by neighbors, al-Zawadi said.
He said the Italians were in a “good condition” although they had not eaten in a week.
“They are in a safe place now and undergoing medical treatment,” al-Zawadi said. “They will be transferred to their country sometime soon,” he added.
He also confirmed that two other Italian hostages had been killed in recent clashes between terrorists belonging to ISIS and Sabratha’s local forces.
On Thursday, the head of the so-called “Sabratha Media Center” said the local militia fighting Islamic State group ambushed two ISIS cars in a desert highway, 22 miles south of Sabratha, killing all nine people in the vehicles. The bodies of the twoItalians were later found, with weapons in their hands, said the head of the media center, Esam Krair.
