Five Kenyans kidnapped in Lamu set free, Deputy Inspector General Samuel Arachi says

LAMU, KENYA: Authorities in Lamu now claim that five Kenyans kidnapped near Kiunga by suspected members of Al Shaabab militiamen on Friday have been set free inside Somalia and are apparently in the custody of the Kenyan militiary at Dobley.

The unidentified five were ferrying miraa from Meru to Somalia when they were kidnapped by the militiamen between Mangai and basuba area near Kiunga.

Deputy Inspector General Mr Samuel Arachi told the Standard that five were set from inside Somalia on Sunday without stating how this happened.

According to Arachi who spoke to the Standard on telephone said the Kenyans were set free on Sunday in the afternoon at Beles Kokani, where Kenyan forces have a base near Afmadow in southern Somalia.

At the weekend reports indicated the Kenyans had been held at Jilib on Somalia's southern Coast.

"The information we have is that the captives were set free by the militia between Beles Kokani and Tabda area in Somalia,"he said.

The Deputy Inspector general of police said the Kenyans "are now on their way to Doble where they will be escorted back in the country," suggesting the possible involvement of the Kenyan military which has forces at Beles Kokani, Tabda and Dobley on Kenya's southern border with Somalia.

Arachi's claims have not been confirmed independently and he did not give more details on what led to their release as his phone went off before the interview was concluded.