The United States government is assessing that two Cuban doctors were killed in an airstrike against al-Shabaab in Somalia, according to the al-Shabaab group.
The United States carried out an airstrike on Thursday near Jilib district in southern Somalia, according to the US Africa Command.
In a statement released by the Al-Shabaab group, it said that an airstrike carried out by the United States in a house in the city of Jilib killed Cuban doctors named Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez.
It is the first time Al-Shabaab has admitted that they are in control of these two Cubans after they kidnapped them from North-Eastern Kenya almost five years ago.
A spokeswoman for the US Africa Command said that they are aware of reports that two civilians were killed in the attack.
“The command will continue to evaluate the results of this operation and will provide additional information as it becomes available,” Lennea Montandon said in a statement.
An official of the United States Defense Command said that there is no reliable evidence to show that there are any civilian casualties in the bombing, but they will continue to investigate these allegations, saying that they are taking all these claims seriously.
These two doctors were kidnapped by Al-Shabaab in Kenya in April 2019, after a brutal attack near the Somali border.
A police officer who was accompanying the doctors died in the attack. The doctors were said to be driving a Kenyan government car while on their way to the hospital where they were working when they were kidnapped.
Assel Herrera Correa, was a general practitioner, while Landy Rodriguez Hernandez, was a surgeon.
Cuba and Kenya have reached an agreement to send doctors from Cuba to help with the shortage of medical professionals in Kenya and to help implement universal health care coverage.
