NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- All non-life-saving operations along Kenya's border with Somalia are suspended in the wake of the kidnappings of two Spanish aid workers, a U.N. official said.
Two Spanish women working for humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders were kidnapped and their driver was shot near the northern Kenyan border.
The aid group confirmed the attack in a statement, saying the driver was in stable condition but two of its international staff members were missing.
Emmanuel Nyabera, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, told the BBC that all non-life-saving operations save for the distribution of food, water and medical services were suspended in the wake of the kidnappings.
Authorities suspect al-Qaida's affiliate al-Shabaab was behind the kidnapping of the Spanish aid workers. African Union officials recently told the BBC pro-government forces had wrestled control of the Somali capital Mogadishu away from the terrorist group.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for an early October suicide attack in Mogadishu that left more than 70 people dead in an assault that targeted Somali officials and soldiers from AMISOM.
With violence and kidnappings threatening the Somali border with Kenya, London in early October warned against all but essential travel to within 90 miles of the Somali coast.
Much of the Horn of Africa is in the grip of a devastating drought.
