By Yassin Juma
NAIROBI
A Kenyan administrative chief was abducted on Thursday morning in northern Kenya by suspected Al-Shabaab militants.
"The chief was abducted while travelling from Mandera town to Arabia town," Moallim Saleh, a Mandera County official, told The Anadolu Agency.
The official has been identified as Mukhtar Maalim Adan, the administrative chief of Arabia town.
The private vehicle he was travelling in at the time was also taken.
"We believe he is now in Somalia," Saleh told AA.
Kenya's Mandera County borders Somalia.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, but the Mandera-Arabia road has seen attacks and similar abductions in the past that have been blamed on Somalia's Al-Shebaab.
Al-Shabaab had previously carried out a series of attacks in Mandera, including three attempted assassinations of the local governor.
At least 148 people – mostly students – were killed earlier this month in a devastating militant attack on northern Kenya's Garissa University College.
Responsibility for the carnage was swiftly claimed by Al-Shabaab.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group has vowed to carry out attacks in Kenya as long as the East African country maintains a military presence in Somalia.
