Somali elders from Mandera County returned to Bulahawo in the neighbouring Somalia to renegotiate ransom for kidnapped Cuban doctors, sources said on Friday.
On Wednesday, the elders returned to Kenya after a tough one month mission that saw Al-Shabaab militants demanding Sh150 million ransom, a figure that Nairobi termed as 'too high'.
The elders had been given the demands when they went to a remote village in Jubbaland where Dr Assel Herera Correa, a general practitioner, and Dr Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon, are believed to be held. The two are said to be well taken care of by the militants.
“The doctors are well taken care of. They are under watch as they offer medical care to locals,” said a security official who talked to one of the elders.
While Kenyan government has remained mum over the predicaments, Somali community elders from Kenya confirmed that the doctors were also offering medical assistance to local community under Al-Shabaab restrictions.
“They seem to be under the care and offering medical care services to the locals,” said a security official who cited the elders’ message.
The government seems to have opted for dialogue through the powerful community elders despite deployment of deadly Rangers Strike Regiment that comprises of Rangers Strike Force and Special Forces.
Sources within security teams in Mandera say that the two doctors may have been abducted by bandits before being handed over to Al-Shabaab militants near El-Adde town.