Lamu Kenya Shooting: UK Advises Aginst Travel within 30 km of Somali Border

NAIROBI (BNO NEWS) -- A British tourist was shot dead and his wife kidnapped from a Kenyan resort, the British Foreign Office said on Sunday.

The married couple were attacked overnight at a beach resort north of Lamu, near the Kenya-Somalia border, a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement. According to the BBC, Kenyan officials said a policeman saw six men taking away a woman in a boat.

A BBC reporter said that, since the tourist resort is near Somalia, Somali pirates could be involved. Meanwhile, a source said Islamist group al-Shabab could also be involved.

The Foreign Office said it is working with Kenyan authorities to establish further details about the attack. It also said it had sent a consular team from the High Commission in Nairobi to the area.

"We are working to secure the safe and swift release of the British National who has been kidnapped and ask those involved to show compassion and release the individual immediately," the office stated.

It continued to advise against all but essential travel to within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of Kenya's border with Somalia. It added that there have been previous attacks by Somali militia into Kenya. In July 2009, three aid workers were kidnapped, and two Western nuns in November 2008.

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