Gunmen kidnapped two South Korean missionaries in northern Kenya, near the border of Ethiopia, on Monday evening while eight Kenyans were shot dead in a separate incident in the region, local officials said.

The arid borderlands between Kenya and Ethiopia are awash with weapons and suffer frequent raids by armed groups, and last year the government launched a security operation to disarm local bandits and bring calm and order to the region.

“Two missionaries of Korean origin were abducted and (are being) held incommunicado to date,” Marsabit County Governor Mohamud Ali said in a statement on Tuesday.