Two Italian nationals who had been kidnapped by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Lamu County on Thursday have been rescued.
The two women were among four people who were being held hostage by members of the Somalia-based terrorist organization inside Witu Forest in Lamu, according to police.
They were being held inside a car when a multi-agency team comprising officers from the General Service Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit, and the Kenya Defense Forces rescued them.
Police said the extremists shot and killed two people along the Lamu-Garsen road in Lamu County in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Reports say that at least 10 militants, clad in Kenya military attire, had set up an illegal roadblock on the road and were questioning motorists before GSU officers arrived at the scene and confronted them. A fierce gun battle ensued between the officers and the militants before they retreated to their hideout in Boni forest.
Police said the suspected terrorists had stopped four vehicles and had shot dead a lorry driver and his turn boy.
The bodies of the deceased persons were moved to Mpeketoni hospital morgue as security officers pursue the suspects.
The officers also recovered a saloon car with several gunshots but no occupants and a burnt motorcycle whose registration number was not visible and whose owner was not found at the scene.
