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– Herera Corea and Landy Rodriguez were abducted by gunmen on their way to work in Mandera on April 12, 2018
– They two are reportedly being held in a restricted area somewhere in Jubaland, Somalia, where they had been seen alive
– Community elders from Mandera and Bulahawo in Somalia have been negotiating with the kidnappers to free the medics
It is over a month since two Cuban doctors were abducted in Mandera county by people suspected to be members of the al-Shabaab militant group and all efforts by the Kenyan government to rescue them are still ongoing.
Herera Corea and Landy Rodriguez went missing on April 12, 2018, and now it has been confirmed the two foreign medical practitioners who were among 100 others imported from Cuba are still alive but are still being held by kidnappers in Somalia.
READ ALSO: Mandera: Two Cuban doctors abducted, police officer guarding them shot dead
A report by Citizen Digital on Thursday, May 16, indicated the abductors had agreed to release the medics after lengthy negotiations but demanded KSh 150 million as ransom in exchange for Corea and Rodriguez’s freedom.
Intelligence sources revealed the doctors were being held in a restricted remote area somewhere in Jubaland, Somalia, where they had been spotted alive.
READ ALSO: Government evacuates Cuban doctors from Wajir, Garissa after colleagues were abducted
The demand for ransom was reportedly communicated through community elders drawn from Mandera, Kenya, and Bulahawo, Somalia, in collaboration with the local authorities.
The elders had been negotiating for release of the medical practitioners for weeks and are expected to continue until freedom the two are freed.
READ ALSO: Uhuru finally dispatches Cuban doctors to work in counties
As was earlier reported by TUKO.co.ke, Corea and Rodriguez were heading to work when they were ambushed and their bodyguard, a Kenyan police officer, shot dead by the gun men when then bundled the medics on a waiting Probox car.
Soldiers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) were immediately deployed to pusue the kidnappers who by then had crossed over to Samalia.
Following the incident, the government decided to evacuate other Cuban doctors who had been posted in Garissa and Wajir counties.
Source: Tuko
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