Two Cuban doctors kidnapped by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Kenya

The two doctors and their guard were on the way to work when they were attacked.

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byAbdulateef Ahmed

September 7, 2025

Kenya's Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet speaks during a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 16, 2019, a day after a blast followed by a gun battle that rocked the upmarket hotel complex. - Boinnet announced today the death toll raised to 21 from the Islamist attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali group Al-Shabaab. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Suspected Somali Al-Shabaab jihadis kidnapped two Cuban doctors Friday and killed their police protection officer, police sources said.

They said the two doctors and their guard were on the way to work in the town of Mandera, in the northeast of Kenya, when they were attacked.

“It just happened this morning. The police officer is dead but the two doctors were taken away,” a senior police officer, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

“From the modus operandi and the fact that they went towards the Somalia border, we have reasons to believe that the kidnappers are Al-shabaab.”

The two doctors are part of a group of about 100 Cubans who came to Kenya last year to help boost health services.

Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants have been waging an insurgency against Somalia’s foreign-backed government for over a decade, and while it has lost some ground, continues to stage deadly attacks.

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Abdulateef Ahmed

Abdulateef Ahmed, Digital News Editor and; Research Lead, is a self-driven researcher with exceptional editorial skills. He's a literary bon vivant keenly interested in green energy, food systems, mining, macroeconomics, big data, African political economy, and aviation..