The government of Kenya has turned down a plan proposed by the government of Cuba whose two doctors were abducted by al-Shabaab.
According to sources, Cuba has proposed to pay a ransom to al-Shabaab who abducted two doctors from Mandera town near Kenya-Somalia border.
Kenya ministry for foreign affairs reportedly asked Cuban government not to pay money to the terrorists.
The ministry pledged that Kenya will rescue the captives through operations. Previously, Kenya dispatched elders to try negotiations to free the doctors but end in vain. Al-Shabaab demanded $1.5 million in ransom.
On 12th of April last year, gunmen kidnapped two Cuban doctors from Mandera town.
The two doctors are among 100 Cuban specialists who arrived in Kenya in June 2018 under a bilateral arrangement between Kenyan and Cuban governments.
Al-Shabaab had been carrying out a deadly raid and bomb explosions in Kenya since 2011 when the East African nation deployed its military in Somalia to the group.
Mandera which is on Kenya’s border with Somalia had witness’s attacks previously conducted al-Shabaab militants.
The group majorly targeted non-locals in Mandera county, leading the county to lose labour from other counties including doctors, teachers and quarry workers.
Attacks by Al-Shabaab fighters are frequent in the area as the rebels try to pressure the Kenyan government into withdrawing its troops from Somalia.
