Kenyan doctor held by Al-Shabaab in Somalia appears in video, pleads for release  

MOGADISHU — A Kenyan doctor working with a United Nations medical evacuation team in Somalia says the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has held him and other team members for more than a year following a helicopter crash.

In a video message addressed to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Kenyan President William Ruto, and the Kenyan public, Ambrose Kimiti said the helicopter they were traveling in crashed on Jan. 10, 2024, in an area controlled by al Shabaab during a medical evacuation mission.

Kimiti said that after the crash, he and several colleagues were captured by the militant group and that attempts to contact the United Nations have so far failed to produce assistance or formal negotiations for their release.

“We believed we were serving a humanitarian cause, but the United Nations has failed to work toward securing our freedom,” Kimiti said in the message.

He called on Guterres to intervene urgently, saying the U.N. has a responsibility to protect staff and contractors abducted while performing official duties.

Kimiti also appealed to Kenyan President William Ruto to use his influence to help secure their release and urged Kenyans to raise their voices in support of efforts to free them.

Neither the United Nations nor the Kenyan government has issued an official response to the video appeal.

The appeal comes days after the Ukrainian pilot of the same helicopter made a similar call to the U.N. and the Ukrainian government, seeking negotiations with al-Shabaab to secure their freedom.

Al Shabaab has waged a long-running insurgency in Somalia and has previously abducted foreign nationals working with international organizations.

GAROWE ONLINE