Police have intensified the search for two Cuban doctors kidnapped on Friday in Mandera town.
A multi-agency security team tasked with rescuing Assel Herera Correa and Landy Rodriguez on Saturday involved the local leaders in negotiations with their counterparts across Somalia, where the abductors are said to have crossed over to. The two are suspected to have been kidnapped by al Shabaab militants.
The multi-pronged approach was adopted after the security team comprising the police, reservists and the Kenya Defence Forces failed to trace the two even after it became clear it would be impossible to conduct an operation in Somalia.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba and Mandera East MP Omar Maalim held a meeting with elected leaders, clan elders and residents before the elders crossed over to Bula Hawa, Somalia for negotiations.
National Police Service spokesman Charles Owino on Saturday said the National Security Advisory Committee met to review the operational status of the rescue mission.