Mogadishu — Two foreigners, believed to be French, have been kidnapped from Sahafi hotel in the south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said on Tuesday.

Reports say that several gunmen disguised as government security forces snatched the men from the hotel in the south of the city near K4 where the African Union troops (AMISOM) have military bases.

Reports say that the abducted foreigners were French citizens and it is unclear the real names of the foreigners and also where they had been taken so far.

Mogadishu has been in the middle of fierce on-off battles between pro-government forces and Islamists.

The abductions took place at the Sahafi Hotel on Tuesday morning in a part of the Somali capital controlled by the transitional government forces.

Gunmen wearing Somali police uniforms turned up at the guest house, seized the men and took them in a vehicle towards a part of the city run by the Islamist forces.

Sahafi Hotel has often accommodated foreign people, government ministers and parliamentarians.

The kidnapping comes after two days of heavy fighting between the government troops and Islamist forces in the north of the Somali capital Mogadishu.