Two South Korean missionaries were abducted by gunmen in northern Kenya, near the Ethiopian border, on Monday evening. In a separate incident in the region, eight Kenyans were shot dead, according to local officials.
The borderlands between Kenya and Ethiopia are plagued by armed groups, and despite a government security operation launched last year to disarm local bandits, violence persists.
Marsabit County Governor Mohamud Ali confirmed the abduction, stating that the two missionaries, a South Korean man and his mother-in-law, were taken from their home in Odda village around 9 p.m. on Monday. The man’s mobile phone signal was last detected near the Ethiopian border, but attempts to trace him have been unsuccessful as the phone has since been switched off.
The South Korean embassy in Nairobi has not yet commented on the situation, and the national police spokesperson acknowledged the abduction but provided no further details.
In a separate attack on Monday night, gunmen dressed in “jungle attire” shot and killed eight people, then burned their bodies beside the lorry they were traveling in, about 100 kilometers west of Moyale, according to a police report seen by Reuters.
