Al-Shabaab militants who kidnapped two Cuban doctors from north-eastern Kenya and took them to Somalia are demanding $1.5 million for their release.
Dr Assel Corea, a general practitioner, and Dr Landy Rodriquez, a surgeon, are being held in a remote village in Jubbaland where they are providing medical services to the locals, the East African reported.
Their whereabouts were confirmed after a group of elders were sent to Jubaland to negotiate with the militants for their release.
The two doctors, who were in Kenya under a special arrangement between the host country and Cuba, were kidnapped on 12 April when the car they were travelling in was ambushed by the extremists.
While the Kenyan police have said they have no information on the abduction other Cuban doctors posted to Wajir, Lamu, Garissa and Tana River in Kenya have been recalled and sent to other countries due to fears for their security.
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For nearly a decade, Pragya Thakur was known mostly as the saffron-clad Hindu ascetic shuttling in and out of Indian courts, flanked by police, facing charges under an anti-terrorism law for plotting a bomb attack on Muslims.
Last month, the 49-year-old was fielded as a candidate by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the current general election, in which he is seeking a second term.
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Source: IOL
