Two Somali refugees shot dead in Kenya camp

NAIROBI — Two Somali refugees were shot dead and a third was wounded by gunmen in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency that runs the camp said Wednesday.

Dadaab, the world’s biggest refugee complex, is home to 460,000 people, most of them Somalis fleeing two decades of civil war as well as drought and famine in their home country.

“We confirm that two persons died and one person got injured after a shooting in Ifo Camp in Dadaab last night at about 21:45 (1845 GMT),” the UN spokeswoman told AFP.

“Initial police investigations suggest that this was a revenge attack. Certain refugees were targeted and were shot and the perpetrators left without stealing or taking anything.” At the start of the year, two refugee leaders in Dadaab were gunned down within two days, one in Ifo and one in Hagadera camp.

They were members of peace and security teams that cooperate with police and non-government organisations to ensure security in the camps. Police suspected Somali Islamists were behind those attacks. Security has become a major concern in the camps at Dadaab, particularly since last year, with most aid groups moving with armed escorts. In October, two Spaniards working for Doctors without Borders (MSF) were kidnapped in the camp and taken to Somalia.

AFP