Five kidnapped at Kenyan refugee camp

“One NRC staff member died, and two others are injured,” said Faiysal
Abdullahi, a medical officer with GIZ. Kenya’s Red Cross also confirmed the
kidnapping and the death of one person.

The attack happened close to the NRC compound, but staff at the aid agency’s
headquarters in Oslo said they could neither deny nor confirm the reports,
as they were trying to get information themselves.

There were differing reports of the nationalities of those involved, but
several local sources said the hostages included Europeans.

“They were in a Land Cruiser when they were attacked, the vehicle has been
taken away with them,” said a police source on condition of anonymity as he
was not authorised to speak to the media.

“A team is pursuing them, but we do not know if they have crossed to the other
side,” the source added, referring to neighbouring Somalia some 100
kilometres (60 miles) away.

The kidnapping is the latest in a series of attacks in the giant Dadaab camp,
where gunmen last October seized two Spaniards working for Medecins sans
Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut.

They are still being held hostage in Somalia.

The kidnapping of the Spaniards was one of the incidents that spurred Kenya to
send troops and tanks into Somalia to fight the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab
insurgents Nairobi blames for abductions as well as for cross-border raids.

The Dadaab complex is the world’s largest camp with more than 465,000
inhabitants at the end of May, constituting Kenya’s third-biggest town.

The Shebab still control large parts of southern Somalia, despite recent
losses to African Union troops, government forces and Ethiopian soldiers,
who have wrested several key bases from the insurgents.

Kenya, which invaded southern Somalia in October before joining the AU force,
has a heavy troop presence some 120 kilometres (75 miles) into Somalia from
their frontier.

Since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre, Somalia has been
variously governed by ruthless warlords and militia groups, each controlling
their own limited fiefdoms.

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