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Five Mandera Chiefs missing after Kidnap by suspected Al Shabaab militia

Confirming the incident, Mandera South police Commander Julius Njeru said the Chiefs were on their way to Elwak from Wargadud.

Five chiefs have been reported missing after a suspected abduction by suspected Al Shabaab Militia between Bamba Owla and Ires Suki in Mandera County.

According to the police, the five were ambushed and kidnapped by people believed to be from the terror group while in a car.

Confirming the incident, Mandera South police Commander Julius Njeru said the Chiefs were on their way to Elwak from Wargadud.

The police boss said the Chiefs were headed to Elwak for a meeting with other security heads and Chiefs to prepare for a planned meeting by President William Ruto later this week.

The suspects are believed to have fled towards the Somalia direction and a multi-agency operation is on, to rescue the abducted administrators.

The abduction comes at a time when the country has experienced a lull in terror attacks with president Ruto expected to have a development tour this week to engage the communities in the region on the development priorities by the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Ruto is expected to meet local leaders while assessing ongoing projects in the region.

In the past one year Mandera, Lamu and Garissa experienced a total of 12 attacks with Garissa having the highest at 8 attacks as per the data collected by IGAD’s Centre of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (ICEPCVE).

In December, an officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCIL) was shot and killed in Lafey Mandera County; four months after a government driver was also killed after he was shot by suspected Al-Shabaab Militia and the vehicle stolen and driven towards Somalia.

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A resident was later arrested for having teamed up with the Militia to hijack the government vehicle and the driver killed.

Mandera has been under constant attacks by the Al Shabaab with security operations being high.

The constant attacks led to the suspension of planned border opening until further notice due to the lingering terror attacks.

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