Somali gunmen kidnapped a French woman from her home in a resort in northern Kenya early Saturday, near where a Briton was seized and her husband killed last month, authorities said.
The abductors were "10 heavily armed Somali bandits suspected to be Al-Shabaab operatives" from Ras Kiamboni, across the border in Somalia, Kenyan security minister George Saitoti said in a statement.
The gunmen seized the woman at about 3 a.m. from her home in Manda Island, near Lamu.
Security forces pursued the men as they raced in a high-speed boat toward the border, but despite the Kenya Navy injuring several of the abductors in a shoot-out they managed to reach Ras Kiamboni, Saitoti's statement said.
"In the meantime, every effort is being made to rescue the victim," he said.French authorities are not releasing the woman's name, said Eric Bosc, a spokesman for the French Foreign Affairs Ministry. He said she is in her 60s and lives in Kenya about six months a year. Bosc said French authorities are doing everything they can to help free the woman.
Kenyan officials and an acquaintance said the woman uses a wheelchair and is not in good health.
It is the second kidnapping near the popular tourist town of Lamu in a month. Gunmen fatally shot a British man and kidnapped his wife, Judith Tebbutt, from a safari lodge near the town in September.
David Tebbutt was killed in the attack when he resisted, according to Kenyan police.
The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued revised travel advice to its citizens traveling near the Somali border.
The abductors were "10 heavily armed Somali bandits suspected to be Al-Shabaab operatives" from Ras Kiamboni, across the border in Somalia, Kenyan security minister George Saitoti said in a statement.
The gunmen seized the woman at about 3 a.m. from her home in Manda Island, near Lamu.
Security forces pursued the men as they raced in a high-speed boat toward the border, but despite the Kenya Navy injuring several of the abductors in a shoot-out they managed to reach Ras Kiamboni, Saitoti's statement said.
"In the meantime, every effort is being made to rescue the victim," he said.French authorities are not releasing the woman's name, said Eric Bosc, a spokesman for the French Foreign Affairs Ministry. He said she is in her 60s and lives in Kenya about six months a year. Bosc said French authorities are doing everything they can to help free the woman.
Kenyan officials and an acquaintance said the woman uses a wheelchair and is not in good health.
It is the second kidnapping near the popular tourist town of Lamu in a month. Gunmen fatally shot a British man and kidnapped his wife, Judith Tebbutt, from a safari lodge near the town in September.
David Tebbutt was killed in the attack when he resisted, according to Kenyan police.
The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued revised travel advice to its citizens traveling near the Somali border.
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