Two Italian technicians, who worked as subcontractors in Syria for Italian energy group Ansaldo, were released late on Friday after going missing for a week, the official SANA news agency said.

The two men said they had been kidnapped by a group of about 15 terrorists and were poorly treated during their captivity

“During operations to cleanse some (rebel) areas in the province of Damascus, Syrian troops managed to liberate the two Italian technicians, who were kidnapped by an armed terrorist group,” SANA said.

“The two men said they had been kidnapped by a group of about 15 terrorists and were poorly treated during their captivity,” the news agency added.

Italian media named the pair as Oriano Catari, 64, and and Domenico Tedeschi, 36.

According to the Genoa newspaper Il Secolo XIX, the two men were employed at a power plant in Deir Ali near Damascus, on behalf of the Syrian national electric company.

Italian media reported that the pair were expected to be flown back to Italy later yesterday.

SANA had earlier reported they had already left the country.

Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi in a note welcomed the reported release of the pair.