Kidnapped Frenchwoman 'in Somalia': Kenya official

A disabled Frenchwoman snatched by Somali gunmen from a Kenyan resort island is "already in Somalia", a local official has said Sunday.

"She's already in Somalia. I can confirm that," Lamu District Commissioner Stephen Ikua. "It must have been al-Shabaab," he added.

The 66-year-old wheelchair-bound woman, was taken from her home on the archipelago of Lamu in east Kenya on Saturday by "10 heavily armed Somali bandits," a Kenyan government statement said, adding they were "suspected" members of Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist rebel group.

It was the second attack on foreigners in one month in this part of Kenya near the border with war-torn Somalia.

France and Britain swiftly issued new travel advice, warning travellers to avoid not only lawless Somalia but the nearby coastline as well.

Tourism

This is a blow for tourism which is a key foreign currency earner for Kenya, East Africa's largest economy.

The Lamu archipelago is often included in package holidays to Kenya, with game-viewing safaris offered in some of the country's national parks.

The Kenyan government said in a statement Saturday that "every effort is being made to rescue the victim", while Tourism Minister Najib Balala promised security will be beefed up.

The woman, identified by local sources as Marie Dedieu, was taken from her home on Manda island, the government said, separated by an idyllic lagoon from the celebrity-packed, luxury resort isle of Lamu.

"We fear for her health," French foreign affairs spokesman Bernard Valero said in Paris, adding the woman who was retired and had been living in Kenya for about 15 years, was on a medical regimen when abducted.

Her companion, John Lepapa, a 39-year-old Kenyan who was present during the attack, said there were six assailants on land and four waiting in the boat, and "they all had guns".

"He shoot at me when he passed this window," he recounted.

Locals said the kidnap victim was well known in the area, where she spends much of the year. The kidnappers did not take her wheelchair with them.