The United States investigates whether Cuban doctors died in an air attack against terrorists in Somalia

The United States government began an investigation to clarify whether an air attack against terrorists in Somalia could have caused the death of the two Cuban doctors kidnapped in Kenya in 2019.

The Pentagon is reviewing reports on the surgeon's possible deathsLandy Rodriguez Hernandez and the general practitionerAssel Herrera Correa, which were in the hands of the jihadist groupAl Shabaabin Somalia.

The airstrike by US forces occurred on February 15, near the Somali town of Jilib. The operation was confirmed by thesomalia government and by a spokesperson for AFRICOM (US Military Command in Africa), who also acknowledged having received reports about the alleged deaths of civilians in the offensive.

From AFRICOM they confirmed to the news agencyWHICH They are working to assess the impact of the operation, and will share any additional information as it becomes available.

The terrorist organization Al Shabaab, which carried out the kidnapping of the Cuban doctors in Kenya on April 12, 2019, said that both died as a result of said attack.

Al Shabaab reported in a statement that the Cuban doctors perished in the bombing and published two photographs that apparently show the body of one of the deceased. However, these data from the terrorist group have not yet been confirmed by government entities.

The Cuban doctors werekidnapped in 2019 when they were heading to their workplace in Mandera, a Kenyan community near the border with Somalia. The area where the kidnapping occurred had been the target of jihadist activities on other occasions.

In an effort to secure his release, mediators between Kenya and Somalia traveled to Jubaland, under Al Shabaab control, and managed to testify that the Cubans offered medical assistance to local residents.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 1.5 million dollars, but there was no resolution to the kidnapping situation.

Herrera and Rodríguez were part of a group of about one hundred health professionals sent to Kenya as part of a bilateral agreement between the Cuban regime and the government of the African country, to improve the population's access to specialized medical services. This collaboration between Cuba and Kenya began in 2018.

The United States maintains military operations against Al Shabaab in collaboration with the Somali army, intensified since the announcement by the president of Somalia of a "total war" against these groups in August 2022.

Al Shabaab is linked to Al Qaeda, and continues to exert its influence in rural Somalia and extend its violence to neighboring countries.

After learning the news of the alleged death of the Cuban professionals, the island's authorities, including the presidentMiguel Diaz-Canel, assured that they maintain contact with the Kenyan and Somali counterparts, awaiting official confirmation on the fate of the doctors.

In a brief message on social networks, the Cuban Foreign Ministry expressed its solidarity and support for the families of the doctors, emphasizing the continuity of efforts to clarify the tragic news that has not yet been confirmed.

The Cuban people have shown signs of indignation at the terrible management of the Díaz-Canel government in this sensitive case.

Thousands of people claim that the regime abandoned doctors to their fate. The government itself has contributed to creating this atmosphere of mistrust, as it has kept the issue silenced and has not made public a coherent and constant strategy that would reflect how it worked to bring the doctors back to Cuba.