Kenyan military forces are currently engaged in a two-pronged offensive in southern Somalia targeting Islamist militant group al Shabaab. Since July, a rash of kidnappings and killings in Kenya near the Somali border has left four foreigners and three Kenyan nationals missing, another foreigner dead, and a Kenyan national in the hospital. Al Shabaab denies involvement in these incidents, and it is unclear what group or individuals are actually responsible. Nairobi is concerned that the recent use of southern Somalia as a base to launch kidnapping missions into Kenya will persist or worsen. Rumors have circulated for years about a purported plan by the Kenyan government to create a buffer zone along the border with Somalia . Such a buffer zone could lessen the threat posed by al Shabaab and other Somali militants.