Kenya on high alert as 13 killed in Shabaab attacks

Kenya is on high alert after 13 people, including 10 security officers, lost their lives in attacks by Somalia-based al Shabaab militants.

Last week, seven Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers died after their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Baure area of Lamu, along the Bodhei-Kiunga road.

An intelligence brief seen by the Daily Nation shows the security agencies have heightened surveillance in Lamu, Mandera and Garissa counties over possible terror attacks targeting security forces operating in the area.

“More reports warn of an impending terror attack in Lower Garissa and areas around Boni Forest in Lamu County in Coastal Kenya. Based on previous sighting and threat reports, it is plausible a large number of militants will be deployed to conduct an attack in Kenya,” the report reds in part.

However, Coast Regional Coordinator John Elungata denied any impending attack in the region, adding they had heightened surveillance as a precaution.

“We really don’t have specific threats in the region but have heightened security across the counties,” he said on phone.

Last week’s deadly attack on the KDF in Lamu was a culmination of single, sporadic attacks by militants believed to belong to the North Eastern Sector under the command of Ahmad Iman Ali and Hassan Dadey.

The incident came barely two weeks after two people were killed and one critically injured when a vehicle they were travelling in ran over an IED suspected to have been planted on the road by al Shabaab militants near the border of Lamu and Somalia.

The incident happened on May 3 at around Border Point 27, several kilometres past Ishakani village in Lamu East.

On March 23, one person died when a water bowser headed to Usalama Camp, where the Kenya-Somalia border wall is being constructed, ran over an IED suspected to have been planted by al Shabaab militants.

Planning surprise attack

Intelligence reports indicate the militia group is planning to carry out a surprise attack on an unspecified “hard target” in Boni.

The reports say an advance party could have delivered weapons for the operation, with some of the targeted areas being Lamu, Garissa, Ijara and Mandera counties.

Although intelligence-led efforts have considerably reduced terror attacks in Northern Kenya, security agencies say the militia has presence in the region.

Last Friday, a police vehicle in a convoy of three was hit by a roadside explosive, killing three officers and badly injuring three others.

The vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was extensively damaged.

The officers had left their camp in Banisa town and were on their way to respond to a security alarm, according to Mandera County Criminal Investigation Officer Benedict Kigen.

“Our officers had received information that suspected al Shabaab militants had been sighted in that area and were responding when the unfortunate incident happened,” said Mr Kigen.

The team had alerted the county police headquarters of their patrol minutes before they were blown up.

The Friday incident happened at Darkale centre and the explosive was planted about 100 metres from where another one had been placed in January, hitting a private vehicle.

In the January incident, three civilians were abducted as two police officers who were escorting them from Nairobi scampered for safety.

Police reservist shot dead

The vehicle was transporting examination material to Mandera East, the county headquarters.

And last Saturday, about eight armed men walked into Hareri Hosle village in Mandera, shot dead a police reservist and took off with his AK47 rifle.

The nature and execution of the latest attacks point to high coordination and intelligence, with the possibility that there were al Shabaab agents among the locals.

Mr Kigen said one of the challenges of fighting terror in Mandera is that the militants are moving in smaller groups.

There have been efforts to have the Kenyan and Somali governments share intelligence on people crossing the common border.

What is, however, puzzling to the security agencies is how the militants manage to move to as far Mandera in Kenya, killing people and destroying property.

It is not easy for Kenya, which has only Liboi and Mandera as the designated border points, to secure the border that stretches more than 800 kilometres.

Two routes have been identified as the likely entry points militants use to cross and travel deep into Kenya.

Agencies say the militants could be reaching Mandera through Alung’o, from where they move to Banisa through Ashabito, Olla and Guba areas.

Security agents in the region have further expressed concerns about the presence of al Shabaab sympathisers among the locals.