Two cuban doctors in Mandera town have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in a road ambush and taken to Somalia, police spokes person Charles Owino has confirmed.
The medics Dr Herera Correa, a general practitioner and Dr Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon were heading to their place of work at Mandera County Referral Hospital when the abduction occurred.
The invasion that occurred right in the middle of Mandera Town occurred few minutes after 9am.
During the attack, two Toyota Probox ferrying the gunmen blocked the county hospital vehicle in the middle of the road before opening fire.
One state security agent was shot dead during the attack while the other managed to escape. The two officers were were escorting the medics.
“Unfortunantely, an Adminstration Police was killed when the gunmen opened fire, the police officer managed to get away from the ambush,” said Mr Owino.
[ Read: KMPDU demands termination of doctors training programme in Cuba ]
The two cuban medics were then shoved into the attackers car and drove off to Somalia.
The driver of the county hospital vehicle that was attacked has been apprehended by the security agency and is being questioned on the incident.
According to Mr Owino, state security agencies, Kenya Police, Administration Police and the Army are following the attacker on the Kenya-Somalia border.
“All security agency have been deployed to pursue the criminals and the victims. Security agencies are following the matter,” he added.
Mid last year, the two doctors were left to work on their own after the local medics fled due to fear of terror attacks from the Al-Shabab militia group.
[ See also: Boost for Kenya’s healthcare provision as doctors set to be trained ]
In earlier interviews, the two doctors said they were at first worried about working in Mandera County following accounts of terror attack in the news. They further revealed that they had worked in more dangerous places making their new assignment familiar.
“Before I came here, I checked the internet and saw that Mandera is very dangerous with frequent attacks from Al Shabaab but we have worked in far worse conditions,” said Dr Rodriguez.
The two abducted doctors are among 110 Cuban specialists that the government imported from Havana, Cuba last year so as to improve service delivery in rural areas.
The 47 counties received at least one specialist as the Ministry of Health sought to bring the services of the contracted staff closer to the people.
