GAZA, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Palestinian security official said on Sunday that Italian hostage, Alesandro Piero, who was abducted earlier, was freed after a clash between the kidnappers and security forces.

   Aatef E'lian, chief of operations in the preventive security, told reporters that Piero was released after a gunbattle with the kidnappers.

   "After we received information, we sent our forces to the place, where the kidnappers and the hostage were, and after a gunbattle with the kidnappers, the hostage was released," he said.

   Security sources and witnesses said that Piero, a member of an EU delegation visiting the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, was freed hours after he was kidnapped by militants, who called them members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades-Sunni People.

   The kidnapping occurred at around 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT). Palestinian police forces and preventive security exerted efforts to help secure the release.

   On Friday night, three Britons, a woman and her parents, were released after they were abducted by militants in southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

   Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that kidnappings will harm the Palestinian people and tarnish their image in the world.

   On Sunday predawn, militants also blew up a UN club in Gaza City in protest of serving of alcohol in the place, security sources said.

   Several masked and armed men broke into the bar, where UN staff members were celebrating the new year. A Palestinian guard was beaten up and tied up, witnesses said.

   The attackers forced the guests to leave the building before they blew up the entrance hall of the building.

   Under the Islamic Law, consumption of alcohol is strictly forbidden. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

   The security situation in the Palestinian territories, mainly the Gaza Strip, has worsened in the last few days, with militants clashing with police and seizing Palestinian National Authority (PNA) buildings.

   The chaos cast a shadow over the Jan. 25 Palestinian legislative election, during which the radical Hamas group is poised to challenge the ruling Fatah movement. Enditem