NAIROBI, Kenya
Five government officials were kidnapped by gunmen from the Al-Shabaab terror group on Monday morning in Kenya’s Mandera County, near the porous border with Somalia, police confirmed.
Mandera South police commander Julius Njeru told reporters that the five regional administrators or chiefs were on their way from Wargadud to Elwak town in Mandera—about 1,135 kilometers (705 miles) northeast of Nairobi and bordering Somalia and Ethiopia—when they were intercepted.
“The chiefs were on their way to report for duty when they were abducted,” he said.
Chiefs in Kenya are government officials who work for the Ministry of Interior as local administrators appointed by the national government.
They are responsible for maintaining law and order, coordinating security operations, and overseeing government programs at the grassroots level.
The region has frequently faced security threats due to its proximity to Somalia, where al-Shabaab militants operate owing to the largely porous border, allowing armed groups to infiltrate.
Security forces have launched a search for the kidnapped officials, and authorities are urging locals to provide any information that could help in their rescue.
Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia, has carried out numerous attacks in Kenya, particularly in the northeastern region.
In a long-running insurgency, the group has targeted security forces, government officials, and civilians in retaliation for Kenya’s military presence in Somalia as part of the African Union’s peacekeeping mission.
