Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) indicated that the two aid workers abducted in Kenya last October were spotted in southern Somalia this week.

It is to be recalled that gunmen abducted two Spanish workers of MSF last October from Dadaab refugee camp, eastern Kenya, after shooting their Kenyan driver in the neck. The Kenyan police blamed Al-Shabaab, though the latter denied any involvement. Dadaab refugee camp hosts close to 380,000 Somalian refugees and it is used as recruitment by various militant groups including the Ethiopian ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front).

A Press statement by MSF this week indicated that the two workers were spotted in the streets of Afgoye (Benadir, Somalia) on Sunday afternoon.

The Press statement, issued on Dec. 8, 2011, reads:

MSF DIRECTS ALL EFFORTS TOWARDS SAFE RELEASE OF ABDUCTED COLLEAGUES

MSF has received several reports from local sources and media that two foreign women, fitting the description of its colleagues’ abducted in Kenya on October 13th, were spotted in the streets of Afgoye (Benadir, Somalia) on Sunday afternoon. MSF has established contact with local representatives and is requesting local support to ensure that, if true, the MSF staff members are safe, well-treated, and that their forthcoming release might be arranged soon.

It has now been 56 days since Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut were abducted in the refugee camps of Dadaab (Kenya) whilst providing humanitarian assistance to Somali refugees. The camps in Dadaab host 460.000 Somali refugees who fled their country because of hunger and war.

MSF has been working in Somalia continuously since 1991. MSF is currently operating 14 projects in nine districts of Somalia.

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