MOGADISHU, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A hardline Islamist group on Friday took the second French hostage from another insurgent group which had been holding the two abducted French security advisers, a government official said.

    On Thursday the Hezbul Islam group shared the hostages with the Islamist Al-Shabaab movement after Hezbul Islam came under pressure from the latter to hand over one of the French hostages.

    "We now know that the second hostage was also taken from the Hezbul Islam by Al-Shabaab which now has both of the two hostages," Abdiresak Mohamed Qaylo, spokesman for the pro-government Darwish Forces, told Xinhua.

    Qaylo said the Somali government was trying to secure a safe and peaceful end to the hostage incident, adding that the government were very concerned about the safety of the two Frenchmen following the takeover of the hostages by Al-Shabaab.

    The French nationals, who were snatched from their hotel rooms by armed men, arrived in Mogadishu early in July to train security forces for the Somalia government which has lately been battling fighters of Al-Shabaab and Hezbul Islam in Mogadishu.

    The two groups together control much of southern and central Somalia.