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Africa Horn

Cuban doctors held hostage by Al-Shabaab killed in Somalia airstrike

2024-02-19

[ShabelleMedia] A statement released on Telegram by Somalia-based al-Shabaab
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
~~bandidos~~ turbans claims two Cuban doctors who have been under their custody, were killed on Thursday in a dronezap within Jilib town, the turbans' stronghold in Middle Jubba.

Although the claims are yet to be clarified, the ~~bandidos~~ turbans took the two; Surgeon Landy Rodríguez and general medicine specialist Assel Herrera into captive in 2019, after ambushing them in Mandera, the northeastern town in Kenya.

Throughout this time, there have been concerted efforts to rescue the doctors, including behind-the-scenes meetings involving government officials in Somalia, clan elders, al-Shabaab, and the governments of Cuba and Kenya, which had struct a medical deal to have them in the East African nation.

Without giving further details, the ~~bandidos~~ turbans claimed the two died following an ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
in Middle Jubba, where the doctors have been undertaking 'community service'. Multiple sources had previously sighted the two in the al-Shabaab strongholds.

Garowe Online cannot authoritatively verify al-Shabaab claims but the airstrikes are usually conducted by US Africa Command upon requests by the government of Somalia. This week, the US reported an airstrike in Jubaland which left two ~~bandidos~~ turbans dead.

The government of Kenya signed a deal with Cuba in Havanna requiring the Caribbean nation to dispatch medics to Kenya. Although it is a communist state where freedoms of speech and media are quite limited, Cuba's healthcare systems are considered the best in the world.

That's what the Cubans claim, anyway. There are others who say otherwise.

The two were kidnapped while traveling to the hospital, with one of the security officers guarding them killed instantly by the turbans. A few years ago, a court in Kenya convicted the driver of the vehicle, placing him in the scene of the crime for allegedly colluding with the turbans.

Al-Shabaab abducts foreign nationals mainly to bargain for ransom and in most cases, they are subjected to community service as they wait for the offer.

What a happy term for unwilling slavery. Ugh.

The elders pleaded with al-Shabaab not to kill the doctors as all involved parties looked for an amicable solution.

Not with any urgency, clearly. And in the meantime free doctoring all around!

In 2020, al-Shabaab released Silvia Romano, an Italian who had been kidnapped by al-Shabaab, following intensive intelligence coordination involving sleuths from ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and the National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA). Reports indicated she was pregnant with an al-Shabaab operative.

The search for the two doctors was intensified over the four years, with those involved almost getting closer to brokering a deal. The government of Cuba had announced a few years ago reaching a deal with Alshabab over the release of the two captives.

However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
efforts by the traditional elders did not yield fruits, although a consensus was reached to have the two alive as negotiations went on. They have been treating the ~~bandidos~~ turbans and locals, some sources had told Garowe Online.

Their alleged deaths could not be confirmed but there have been reports of aerial bombardments in Jubaland, particularly in the outskirts of Kismayo
...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (always assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region....
in Middle Jubba. The US has been coordinating such efforts but the most recent operation, only left 'two ~~bandidos~~ turbans dead and no civilian casualty.

Posted by:trailing wife

#1 Cubans, so I have to ask, was hostage a cover story for something more than medicine in the Horn of Africa?

Posted by: NoMoreBS 2024-02-19 14:20

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