A French woman has been kidnapped by an armed gang on Kenya's northern resort island of Manda and taken to Somalia, Kenyan officials say.

肯尼亚官员称，一名法国妇女在肯尼亚北部旅游圣地曼达岛被某武装团伙劫持并被带往索马里。

The woman was taken from her house
The disabled woman, 66, was attacked at her bungalow¹（平房，小屋） at Ras Kitau. Kenya's government said it believed the abductors were al-Shabab militants².

A Kenyan statement said some abductors were injured in a shootout（枪战） with two Kenyan ships trying to stop them.

The kidnap comes three weeks after a UK couple were attacked further north.

Gunmen shot dead husband David Tebbutt and kidnapped his wife Judith in Kiwayu. She was taken across the border to Somalia.

'Hugely damaging'

The gunmen struck at Ras Kitau at 03:30 (00:30 GMT) on Saturday.

"An elderly, disabled French lady who has been living in Manda Island in her own house was abducted³ by 10 heavily armed Somali bandits（土匪，盗贼） suspected to be al-Shabab operatives from Ras Chiamboni in Somalia, near the Kenyan border," a Kenyan government statement said.

Abu Chiaba, a local legislator, said the gang had come into Manda by boat in the middle of the night.

"The elderly French woman is well known in the area, she comes to Manda regularly," Mr Chiaba said.

Witnesses say they heard at least two gunshots before the woman was taken away by the attackers.

"We were all startled awake because there were gunshots," said Jeremiah Kiptoon, who works on Manda island.

"The dogs were barking and people were screaming... I ran to the place to see what was happening but by the time I got there, the lady was gone."