Intelligence reports show that Al-Shabaab militants based in Somalia now appear to be more interested in abducting experts in Kenya.
The Al-Qaeda linked group appears to be more determined in Kenyan and foreign experts and professionals to help it spread wider.
Consequently, professionals and experts working in Kenya’s Mandera County have grown increasingly worried.
The most targeted groups comprise security officers, medics, and teachers.
According to security records, Al-Shabaab has abducted at least 11 individuals in Kenya’s northeastern county in the last one year.
A senior security officer working in Mandera confirmed this when he spoke to the Daily Nation in confidence.
“Our sources indicate that Al-Shabaab is heavily interested in abducting teachers and medical officers to use in the areas it controls back in Somalia,” the senior officer said.
Professionals hailing from non-local communities in the area have attracted the most interest since AL-Shabaab believes that they are the easiest to control after taking them to Somalia.
In March 2020, Al-Shabaab militants abducted a mechanic called Julius Mwania, who had been traveling in a bus christened Moyale Raha. The militants then killed two non-locals in the bus.
Jeremiah Kosiom, the Mandera Police Commander, said, “It is our belief that Mwania is still alive. We will not stop searching for him until we find and reunite him with his loved ones.”
The bus owner, Mohamed Bardad, confirmed the hiring of several herdsmen to trace Mwania. He said the local community remains on high alert until they find Mwania.