
2 KDF Soldiers Captured, Held By Al-Shabaab Still Alive 8 Years Later
The family of a KDF soldier kidnapped on January 15, 2016, during an Al Shabab attack on El Adde in Somalia, is pleading with the government to help rescue him.
Abdulahi Issa Mohamed was thought to have perished in the attack, and his family was given a death certificate, however, it turns out he is still alive.
Mohamed is with his KDF colleague Gerison Wanyonyi Wasike, who has also made a video verifying his survival and begging with the government to help him be released by the al Shabaab.
Mohamed’s family learned that he is alive after receiving a call from him and a video message in which he is pleading for assistance to return home.
Mohamed, who was stationed at Moi Barracks in Eldoret, had recently arrived in Somalia with his colleagues on a security mission when their camp at El Adde was overrun and attacked.
El Ade Attack Scars:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) January 16, 2025
Al-Shabaab releases video of a KDF soldier abducted
Abdullahi Issa's family urges govt to intervene
Katra: Help us bring our father back from Somalia
Al-Shabaab militants raided KDF camp in 2016 #CitizenTonight @OBurrows pic.twitter.com/Mt1Mc1It5C
His daughter, Katra Ibrahim, claims her father has been in captivity for eight years and they had given up hope of his being alive until she received a bizarre call one night last month.
After six years, the family performed funeral ceremonies, assuming he had died, and they were awarded a death certificate, which they requested to assist them with various official objectives.
“At first I was shocked when I received the call and he introduced himself as my father although because I knew him including his voice very well I had already known that it was him,” she says.
She stated the soldier said he needed help to return home, and those holding him just wanted to speak with the government and not anyone else.
Katra claimed she then requested him to speak with his captors and allow him to end images or videos to prove he was alive.
“He told me the captors would soon get back to us with video clips of him and true to that they later sent us a video of him pleading for help to return home,” said Katra.
She stated that the family had been depressed and was now living as orphans, but the new development has given them hope.
Wajir-born Abdullahi Issa Ibrahim, said to be a KDF officer captured in the El Adde Somalia attack, spoke out for the first time in 8 years, calling on the Kenyan government to facilitate his release from the Al Shabaab abductors! pic.twitter.com/rdKSJ0clXv
— Cornelius K. Ronoh (@itskipronoh) January 16, 2025
“We lost hope and have been living hopeless lives. My mother is now sickly because of that and my two brothers have been suffering from depression. One of them even ran away from home out of frustration,” said Katra.
Katra stated that they were now asking with President William Ruto for assistance in bringing their father home.
“The people who have him captive want to talk to the government and not the family. That’s why we are pleading with the president to help,” she said.
She stated that they hoped that with Ruto’s help, he would be released. “We beg President Ruto to help us bring my father home,” she said.
When her father called, Katra told him that the government and the KDF had always taken care of the family.
“We thank God, the government and KDF for standing with us since he disappeared,” she said.
“As Muslims, we live everything to God because we had lost hope and thought he had died but it’s God and we thank him.”
She stated that the family had even performed burial rites for him despite the fact that they had no idea he was alive.
He stated that the militant organization had been quite supportive, assisting them where appropriate.
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“They have stood with us and we can’t blame anyone because he disappeared in the line of duty for the country,” she said.
According to Katra, they now have high hopes that President Ruto will assist in getting him released. The soldier is now 61 years old.
“The government has been with us physically, emotionally and financially and that is why we have strong hope the president and Kenyans will help,” she said.
The family departs for Maili Nne, where locals led by Sheikh Abu Kadir expressed their joy that on the eighth anniversary, they had discovered that the soldier was still alive.
“We are shedding tears of joy after being said for all that time. We are pleading with the President to intervene as the family has said,” he said.
Sheikh Abubakar Bini stated that they had visited the family to pray with them and thank God for keeping the KDF member alive.
“We have nothing else but thanksgiving because of the news we have received that he is alive. Through the same God we ask our president to intervene and help,” said Bini.
2 KDF Soldiers Captured, Held By Al-Shabaab Still Alive 8 Years Later