By Cyrus Ombati and AFP

NAIROBI, KENYA: Somali Islamist fighters Al-Shabaab have paraded two prisoners, believed to be Kenyans captured last month after a cross border raid.

“Hundreds of people came to see the hostages who the Shabaab said were Kenyans,” said Ali Moalim, who was among the crowds who gathered on Sunday in Jilib, an Islamist-controlled southern Somali region of Lower Juba. 

On Monday, police said the operation to get two missing officers is ongoing inside Somalia. 

The military has joined in the hunt for the two Administration Police officers who are in the hands of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab after abduction in the attack. 

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said security agencies in Kenya and Somalia have joined hands to locate the whereabouts of constables Fredrick Chirchir and Joseph Wambugu who were abducted a week ago. 

“We cannot account for two of our officers after the attack but we are sure they are alive. Our security forces are pursuing them,” said Kimaiyo. 

Al-Shabaab terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack in which six people including two police officers were killed. 

Chirchir hails from Bomet County while Wambugu is from Nyeri County. They are both latest graduates who left the Administration Police Training College in Nairobi last year before being posted to the Abdisugow police post. 

Kimaiyo acknowledged the attack is the latest in a series that have happened in the area in which about five people have been abducted. 

Among those still in the hands of the criminals is a local District Officer, an immigration officer and two soldiers. 

Evan Mutoro and Jonathan Kangogo, were captured by Al-Shabaab militia on July 24, 2011 and they are yet to be located since then. 

The whereabouts of Yesse Mule Edward, 30 District Officer (DO) for Burderi and Wajir South and Fredrick Irungu Wainaina, 56 a Registration Clerk for Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons are yet to be known since their abduction last year in January. 

Last month the fighters attacked two police border posts, killing six  and claiming to have kidnapped two. 

“The two men looked miserable,” said Abdurahman Isa, another witness, adding that rifles and ammunition allegedly captured at the same time were also paraded alongside the men. 

Kenya has been hit by a wave of grenade and gun attacks since its army invaded Somalia in 2011 to attack the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab, who vowed revenge. 

Kenyan troops remain in southern Somalia but have since been integrated into an African Union force. 

In the past year the Islamists have been driven from a string of key towns by AU and allied Somali forces but they still remain a potent threat.