A video released late on Wednesday purported to show two Italian women held by militants in Syria, with one of them saying they are in danger of being killed.

The title of the video says the women are Italian workers and have been detained by al-Qaeda’s Syria wing Nusra Front, but websites and Twitter accounts used by the militant group did not mention the video, which did not include any logos of the group.

The video published on YouTube shows two young women sitting and dressed in black robes and veils. One holds a sign which gives the date as December 17, 2014.

We are in big danger and we could be killed. The government and its militaries are responsible for our lives

“We supplicate our government and its militaries to bring us back home before Christmas,” the other woman says in English, appearing to read from a prepared statement.

“We are in big danger and we could be killed. The government and its militaries are responsible for our lives.”

An Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment on the video and the possible situation.

However, in August the ministry said two Italian aid workers had been kidnapped in Syria, without giving their names.

The two women had been working on humanitarian projects in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, the ministry had said at the time, adding that all channels were being explored in order to try and obtain more information which could possibly secure their release.

It did not give details of their captors.