UN refugees agency chief slams Kenya aid worker kidnapping

The head of the UN refugees agency on Thursday slammed as “unacceptable” the abduction of two Spanish aid workers from Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp by Somali Islamist Shebab rebels.

“These Medecins Sans Frontieres colleagues were working to rescue lives,” Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement.

“It is wholly unacceptable that they should be made targets for kidnap. I appeal to those responsible to facilitate their immediate and safe return,” he added.

Kenya has launched a search operation but the women are reported to have been taken towards the border with war-torn Somalia, where heavy fighting was reported in a town just across the frontier.

The UNHCR said the two aid workers were snatched from the Ifo extension of Dadaab camp, the world’s biggest refugee camp, at around 13h20 local time.

“Their driver, who was shot, is receiving urgent medical attention in Nairobi,” added the agency.