Kenya activates security apparatus to track down kidnapped Cuban medics - FM
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – The Kenyan government has activated all security apparatus to track down abductors of two Cuban doctors working at the Mandera Referral Hospital in North Eastern Kenya to ensure their safe return, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
“The Government of Kenya assures Kenyans, the Cuban Government and the International community that Kenya is doing everything within its capability to rescue and safely return the two doctors,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Attackers, suspected to be militants working for the Al Shabaab in Somalia, used two unmarked vehicles to mount an attack on a county vehicle ferrying the two Cuban medical personnel to work. The government said the surgeon and the physician have served the local community with dedication and professional efficiency since their deployment to serve in the region several months ago.
The doctors were deployed to the region after a government-to-government agreement.
The two doctors were targeted on Friday morning in an attack in which their armed Police bodyguard was shot dead. Police said the driver of the vehicle ferrying the doctors was questioned after the attack.
The doctors, part of the Cuban contingent of doctors deployed under a bilateral arrangement to Kenya, are stationed in Mandera Hospital in Mandera County, were abducted on their way to work.
“During this deplorable and criminal incident, the security personnel attached to the two doctors was fatally wounded (killed),” the foreign ministry stated.
The ministry reiterated that Kenya remains relentless in calling for unwavering global concerted effort in transnational crimes and eliminating elements disruptive to peaceful existence.
-0- PANA AO/VAO 12April2019
