Five chiefs in Mandera County were reportedly kidnapped on Monday by suspected members of the banned al Shabaab terrorist organization.
The five administrators were traveling from Wargadud to Elwak Town on official business, according to Julius Njeru, the commander of the Mandera South Police.
The leaders were in a car when the incident happened and came from the administrative divisions of Wargadud East, Qurahmudow, and Chachabole.
In Mandera South, the car that was transporting the chiefs to Elwak was taken over between Bamba Owla and Ires Suki.
As Kenya’s security multi-agency teams responded to the event, they came under attack by an IED while working under the Special Operations Group (SOG) quick response unit.
As the insurgents fled with the administrators, rescue attempts to assist in bringing the five chiefs home were delayed.
Similar attacks have been reported in prior years, indicating that al-Shabaab rebels have been active in Mandera County, attacking both villagers and leaders.
A week earlier in the same year, in 2017, Elwak reported a similar event in which suspected gunmen assassinated a senior chief and kidnapped two police reservists from the region.
For in-depth details on the occurrence, the media contacted the Ministry of Interior. Nonetheless, ministry representatives said a formal announcement would be issued later today.
Already, investigations are being conducted to determine how the insurgents kidnapped the leaders while they were on official business.
A former driver who worked for the Mandera County government was convicted in 2022 of helping to arrange the 2019 kidnapping of two Cuban doctors in Mandera County.
Issack Robow assisted the militants in carrying out the kidnapping, as the prosecution had demonstrated to the court, according to Milimani Law Courts Magistrate Martha Nanzushi, who made this conclusion.
