MOGADISHU; A Kenyan doctor working with a United Nations medical evacuation team in Somalia states that the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has detained him and other team members for over a year following a helicopter crash.
In a video message directed at U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Kenyan President William Ruto, and the Kenyan public, Ambrose Kimiti reported that the helicopter they were traveling in crashed on January 10, 2024, in Al-Shabaab controlled territory during a medical evacuation mission.
Kimiti explained that after the crash, he and several colleagues were seized by the militant group and that efforts to contact the United Nations have so far resulted in no assistance or formal negotiations for their release.
“We believed we were serving a humanitarian cause, but the United Nations has failed to work toward securing our freedom,” Kimiti stated in the message.
He urged Guterres to intervene urgently, emphasizing that the U.N. has an obligation to protect staff and contractors abducted while performing official duties.
Kimiti also appealed to Kenyan President William Ruto to utilize his influence to help secure their release and encouraged Kenyans to voice their support for efforts to free them.
Neither the United Nations nor the Kenyan government has issued an official response to the video appeal.
The appeal follows similar calls made days earlier by the Ukrainian pilot of the same helicopter to the U.N. and the Ukrainian government, seeking negotiations with al-Shabaab to secure their freedom.
