NAIROBI.- Los Cuban doctors Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez Hernández, who were kidnapped in Kenya by the extremist jihadist group Al-Shabab, in 2019, allegedly died in Somalia after a drone attack.
In a publication in the red social Xreviewed on the web portal Cuban newspaper, Al Shabab blamed the United States for the deaths of the two Cuban doctors.
A drone strike by US forces on the village of Jilib instantly killed the two hostages, Al Shabab said in the message, which was quoted by the independent news site Garowe Onlinewhich is defined as “the internet sister” of the community radio station Radio Garowe.
The jihadist militia’s publication was shared by several users on X and includes photos that appear to be of Herrera Correa’s body.
Although Garowe Online could not verify the facts published by Al-Shabab, it noted that attacks such as those mentioned are frequently carried out by the United States Africa Command, at the request of the Government of Somalia.
The media recalled that this week, the United States reported an airstrike in Jubaland, which resulted in the deaths of two militants.
However, neither Cuba’s state media nor the official accounts of dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel have confirmed or denied the news.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said in X that unofficial sources reported the death of the two doctors in a bombing. He added that the reports have not been confirmed.
Kidnapped by terrorists 4 years ago
Al-Shabab kidnapped Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez Hernández in April 2019, in a border area between Kenya and Somalia.
At this time, the Cuban Government referred to both doctors almost exclusively on their birthdays or on anniversaries of the kidnapping, and insisted that it was working to achieve their return to Cuba, but without showing concrete efforts.
Their only verifiable action after what happened was to remove the professionals exported to Kenya from unsafe areas and take them to places less exposed to violence.
In October 2023, the Government of Kenya ended Cuba’s medical mission to the country.
The Havana regime sends doctors to dangerous countries on “missions” where it charges exorbitant sums of money for the work of the specialists to whom it pays only 20% of the salary of what the countries pay for each doctor.
Source: EDITORIAL/Diario de Cuba
