2 Spanish aid workers kidnapped in Kenya

Somali Islamist Shebab rebels kidnapped two female Spanish aid workers from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, the third kidnapping of foreigners in just over a month, police said. "Two aid workers of Spanish nationality have been kidnapped by the Shebab, they are working for MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres)," regional police chief Leo Nyongesa told AFP. Kenya has launched a search operation but the women are reported to have been taken towards the border with war-torn Somalia, where heavy fighting was reported in a town just across the border. "Two women have been kidnapped from Ifo camp, and taken away by people we believe are from Somalia," said police spokesman Erick Kiraithe. A driver who was taking them around was shot and seriously wounded before he was thrown out," he said, adding the search operation was being hampered by heavy rains. Another police official said the aid workers were taken in a four-wheel drive vehicle that raced towards the Somali border. In Madrid, the foreign ministry said two Spanish logisticians "were abducted in Kenya at the Somali border. The Spanish embassy in Kenya is working on the case." It declined to name the women. Kenya is still reeling from the kidnappings of a French and British national recently from coastal regions by Somali gunmen that dealt a blow to its key tourism sector. Earlier this month, Frenchwoman Marie Dedieu was seized from her beachfront home in Kenya's popular tourist destination of Lamu, and taken to Somalia.  Gunmen also captured British holidaymaker Judith Tebbutt from Lamu district and killed her husband. No demands have been made public by the gunmen for the release of the hostages. Dadaab, the world's largest refugee complex, is home to some 450,000 refugees, most of whom have come from Somalia, fleeing drought and war. "An MSF team suffered an incident in Dadaab (Ifo extension camp), one driver was injured, he's currently hospitalised and stable," the relief agency said in a brief statement. "Two international staff are missing. A crisis team has been set up to deal with this incident." "We strongly condemn this attack", said Jose Antonio Bastos, the president of MSF-Spain. "MSF is in contact with all the relevant authorities and is doing all it can to ensure the swift and safe return of our colleagues." The head of the UN refugees agency slammed the kidnapping as "unacceptable".  "These Medecins Sans Frontieres colleagues were working to rescue lives," Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement. "It is wholly unacceptable that they should be made targets for kidnap. I appeal to those responsible to facilitate their immediate and safe return." Kenyan authorities have on several occasions expressed fears that Islamist extremists would infiltrate the Dadaab camps from Somalia, as the border lies barely 100 kilometres (60 miles) away. Policing the sprawling camps is extremely difficult, Kenyan authorities say. The camps have seen a huge influx of people this year -- more than 7,500 people have arrived in the crowded complex of rag, tin and plastic huts this month alone. The exodus has been sparked by a severe drought that has affected more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa, hitting Somalia especially hard with the UN declaring famine in several southern regions. The Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab control much of southern Somalia, and recently fought heavy battles with local militia backed by Kenyan military along the border areas, near Dadaab. Residents near Dhobley in the extreme south of Somalia near the Kenyan border reported heavy clashes Thursday between Shebab Islamists and Somali forces backed by pro-government militia. The sides exchanged heavy machinegun and mortar fire and used anti-aircraft weapons at Hawina village outside Dhobley. Both sides claimed victory. A Kenyan driver working for the international aid organisation Care Kenya is still missing after he was abducted in September at gunpoint at the wheel of his vehicle from Hagadera camp in the Dabaab complex. Kenyan authorities have said they boosted security along the border following the abductions from Lamu. Lawless Somalia has had no effective government ever since it plunged into repeated rounds of bloody civil wars beginning in 1991, allowing a flourishing of piracy, militia armies and extremist rebels.