Al-Shabaab militants planning attacks: Boinnet

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet on Tuesday said security forces have received reports that Al-Shabaab fighters are regrouping along the Kenya-Somalia border in readiness to carry out attacks.

In a statement to newsrooms, Boinnet said the terror group, including ISIS, plan to target security personnel and establishments as well as public service vehicles (PSVs) plying on the border counties.

“We have since heightened security alertness to avert any attacks, and equally appeal to the public to continue cooperating with security agencies and remain vigilant,” said the police boss.

In a bid to evade detection by security agencies, IG Boinnet said the Al-Shabaab militant group has resorted to splitting into smaller groups and entering the country on the border areas of Wajir, Mandera, Garissa and Lamu counties.

Time seems to be running out for the Al-Shabaab militia after the Obama administration also decided to include it among armed groups covered under the legal scope of the war against Al-Qaeda, according to a New York Times article published on November 27.

The United States plans to intensify its anti-terrorism and airstrikes campaigns against the Somalia-based militia in support of African Union and Somali government defence forces.

In addition, Joseph Boinnet has also noted that ISIS, a fundamentalist group based in the Middle East, has been targeting Kenyan youth for recruitment in online campaigns.

“Daesh, also known as ISIS is equally among our major concern…but elaborate efforts have been deployed to deal with the attempts of the group to indoctrinate our youths,” read the statement issued by the National Police Spokesman George Kinoti for the IG Boinnet.

In October, a knife-wielding man was shot dead outside the US Embassy in Nairobi after he attacked and injured a Kenyan police officer.

A week later, ISIS claimed responsibility the attack saying the assailant was a “soldier of the Islamic State who was responding to calls to target coalition countries”.

The militant group also claimed another attack perpetrated in September in Mombasa by three women who tricked their way into a police station and tried to torch the building.