Somali pirates kidnap French woman from Kenyan island.

Somali pirates have kidnapped a French woman from an exclusive resort island in northern Kenya, near the Somali border, according to an official.

If confirmed, it would be the second such attack near the popular tourist town of Lamu in a month. In early September, pirates shot dead a British man, David Tebbutt and kidnapped his wife, Judith, from a resort near Lamu.

The Western official said the French woman was kidnapped off Manda Island early today, just across the channel from Lamu. The official, who is in Kenya, spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authorisation to speak on the record.

Lamu resident Muhidin Athman says people near the scene of the kidnapping heard gunshots around 3am.

The Kenyan navy and police were chasing the suspected boat at sea, said Ambrose Munyasia, a top police official on the coast.

Mr Athman said the elderly Frenchwoman owns a house on Manda Island and lives there half the year. She gets around with the help of a wheelchair or personal assistants, he said.

Police were at the scene Saturday morning.

Two kidnappings within a month have the potential to greatly harm the tourist trade in the area just before the busy holiday season.

Pirates once focused primarily on big ships at sea, but in recent years have also attacked private yachts, capturing Europeans or Americans on private trips.

As US and European navies have increased their patrols of the Indian Ocean, and as large ships have increased their on-board defences, pirates may be looking for easier targets to keep ransom payments coming in.

Pirates kidnapped and held a British couple – the Chandlers – for more than a year.

“It’s profit-motived action. As we know the British couple we captured before paid huge ransoms, so sometimes these targets are a big gain that gives you more than ships,” a man who identified himself as a pirate commander named Bile Hussein told The Associated Press last week.