Kenya National Police Service posted on its official Twitter page the images of three suspects with a reward of $9,750.

Kenyan police have identified three suspects in the kidnapping of an Italian woman and are offering a reward of one million shillings ($9,750) for information leading to their arrest.

Silvia Costanza Romano, 23, was seized by six armed men on Wednesday from Kilifi, a coastal community. Five people were injured by the gunmen, including children.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the kidnapping, the first involving a foreigner in Kenya in several years.

Police have said they are optimistic the aid worker will be found “within the shortest time possible”.

Romano is a volunteer with Africs Milele Onlus, an NGO operating in the area.

Kenya’s National Police Service posted on its official Twitter page the images of the three suspects, who were identified as Ibrahim Adan Omar, Yusuf Kuno Adan and Said Adan Abdi.

Wanted: Armed and dangerous. Ksh 1M reward. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/ffGDMeWAhU — National Police Service-Kenya (@NPSOfficial_KE) November 24, 2018

In a statement, Inspector General Joseph K Boinnet said that two motorcycles “suspected to have been used as the gateway conveyance” were found by police officers.

“Meanwhile, the multi-agency team assembled to rescue the lady are doing all they can to rescue her and arrest the abductors, to answer for their crimes in accordance with the law,” Boinnet said.

Such attacks had become rare after 2011, when Kenya deployed forces to neighbouring Somalia in a bid to stop the al-Shabab armed group from kidnapping foreigners.