Al Shabaab demands Sh150 million ransom for kidnapped Cuban doctors
Al Shabaab militants, who have taken responsibility for the kidnap of two Cuban doctors in Mandera a month ago, are now demanding a Sh150 million in ransom.
This is according to the community elders who went to a remote place between the towns of Buale and El-Ade in Jubaland region of Somalia, where Dr Herera Corea (general practitioner) and Dr Landy Rodriguez (surgeon) are said to be held.
The elders, from both Mandera and Bulahawo (Somalia), were sent immediately the doctors were abducted in Kenya to negotiate their release.
ABDUCTION
The elders have confirmed that the two medics are alive and offering treatment to the community in a restricted area in the remote town.
The captives, Dr Correa and Dr Rodriguez, are medical expatriates working in Kenya under a special arrangement between Cuba and Kenya.
Following their abduction on April 12, 2019, Cuban doctors posted in Wajir, Lamu, Garissa and Tana River were recalled for security reasons.
REDEPLOYED
The doctors have since been reassigned and redeployed to other counties.
On the day the doctors were kidnapped, armed militants first blocked the vehicle that was ferrying the medics before alighting and opening fire on the police officers accompanying them.
One officer was shot dead while the other managed to escape. The militants then bundled the two doctors into their vehicle and drove off towards the Somali board.