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Kenya: Shabaab Threat Hits Kericho

Gilbert Kimutai
3 November 2011

Detective in Kericho are hunting for authors of leaflets circulated at Kapsuser trading center warning the residents of an imminent attack by al Shabaab.

Tension and panic has remained high at the trading centre in Kericho west district as traders kept off the area following the circulation of the leaflets by unknown people to the discovery by residents on Monday morning.

Following the circulation of the residents at the centre 10 kilometres from kericho town along Kericho-Sotik highway, police have pitched tent in the area conducting investigation.

The leaflets which read 'Onyo!! Onyo!! Onyo!!. Be ware of al-shabaab presence in Kapsuser trading centre. So prepare to defend your town' was spread along all the street s in the town. Area DC Jamleck Mbuba said the security agents were deployed to the area to try and uncover the authors of the leaflets.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201111031172.html

This is exergeration.

Kenya would loose huge resources to chase every wild threat that Al-Shabaab is coming here and is going there

udun wrote:Kenya: Shabaab Threat Hits Kericho

Gilbert Kimutai
3 November 2011

Detective in Kericho are hunting for authors of leaflets circulated at Kapsuser trading center warning the residents of an imminent attack by al Shabaab.

Tension and panic has remained high at the trading centre in Kericho west district as traders kept off the area following the circulation of the leaflets by unknown people to the discovery by residents on Monday morning.

Following the circulation of the residents at the centre 10 kilometres from kericho town along Kericho-Sotik highway, police have pitched tent in the area conducting investigation.

The leaflets which read 'Onyo!! Onyo!! Onyo!!. Be ware of al-shabaab presence in Kapsuser trading centre. So prepare to defend your town' was spread along all the street s in the town. Area DC Jamleck Mbuba said the security agents were deployed to the area to try and uncover the authors of the leaflets.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201111031172.html

This is madness. I think a few youth in the area are having a good laugh.

Somali rebels arm Kismayu against Kenyan assault

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU | Thu Nov 3, 2011 8:08pm IST

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali militants mounted weapons on roofs, dug trenches and armed students in the port of Kismayu against attack by Kenyan troops, warning the "Kenyan invasion" would lead to "cataclysmic consequences".

Kenya's army has warned Somali civilians to stay away from al Shabaab militant bases in 10 towns to avoid being hurt in imminent strikes. Nearly three weeks into a cross-border operation, however, Kenyan and Somalian government troops have been bogged down by heavy rains and thick mud.

"They have put their weapons over us. Every high house in the city is a defence for al Shabaab," said Fatuma Ali, who lives next to the rebel base in Kismayu.

"Since Kenya mentioned the 10 towns, al Shabaab have been readying all their weapons and small arms."

Angered by a wave of kidnappings and attacks on its soil, Kenya has been dragged into the conflict in neighbouring Somalia, which has had no effective government for two decades.

Al Shabaab has denied responsibility for the kidnappings, saying Nairobi is using them as a pretext for its operation.

Kenya issued the latest warning after it said it had received intelligence reports that consignments of weapons had reached al Qaeda-linked militants in the town of Baidoa.

On Thursday, al Shabaab said Kenya was using the arms cache discovery as an excuse to bomb the rebel towns.

It is "apparent that the operation is not simply an attempt to defend Kenya's territorial boundary as they claimed but rather a clever camouflage for the full-scale invasion of Somalia", the group said in a statement.

"(Al Shabaab) hereby emphasizes, once more, that the continued Kenyan invasion and the callous disregard for civilian lives will have some cataclysmic consequences."


MILITANTS MINGLE WITH CIVILIANS

"They gave arms to people and they're telling them to stay and defend the country from foreigners," said Kismayu resident Amina Mahmoud. "They said yesterday evening: 'Every one of you who dies here is a mujahid and will enter paradise'."

Many Somalis were trying to flee towns, only to be stopped by militants who want them to stay and fight.

"They've refused to let us out, and we don't have any money to leave. Some people are trying to flee but the heavy rain is not giving them a chance," said Ali.

In other towns, residents said the rebels had quit their bases and were mixing with the population, making them more difficult to pinpoint as targets.

"Al Shabaab fighters are all over the town but they're no longer seen in groups. We see only four to five men in bases that were formerly crowded," Halima Aden told Reuters from Baidoa. Residents feared the strikes would hit them too.

"I am sure Kenyan jets will fail to know who to bomb or not - the fighters have scattered," Ahmed Nour in Baidoa said.

On Wednesday residents in the strategic town of Afmadow said al Shabaab had also ordered them to stay at home.

Afmadow is a strategic transit point for contraband smuggled through Kismayu port and is seen as a likely flashpoint for a confrontation between Kenyan forces and al Shabaab.

Kenyan and Somali government troops, in addition to militia nominally allied to the Somalia's Western-backed government, have set up forward positions close to Afmadow.

Kenya has east Africa's biggest economy and its troops are among the best in the region. But some analysts say it lacks the muscle to deal a mortal blow to al Shabaab, whose aim is to impose strict sharia Islamic law across Somalia.

(Additional reporting by Sahra Abdi in Nairobi; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Roche)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/0 ... 2220111103

An al-Shabab regional commander Sheik Mohamed Ibrahim said a Kenyan military convoy had been ambushed on the road from the border town of Liboi to Kenyan forward troop positions inside Somalia.

"The mujahideen fighters destroyed several of the military trucks in the convoy," Mr Ibrahim said.

Kenya's military spokesman, Maj Emmanuel Chirchir, confirmed that there had been a firefight between Kenyan forces and four suspected al-Shabab militants.

He said the convoy had challenged the gunmen to stop walking, at which point they opened fire.

Maj Chirchir also warned the residents of 10 towns in Somalia via Twitter of "imminent" air raids.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15550115

So let me get this straight . When engaged by 4 individuals with an AK , the Kenyans call in their air force ?


via twitter ya ? Man oh man !

We are saying that people should be careful in not mixing up with al-Shabab. That is our message”
End Quote
Maj Emmanuel Chirchir

Kenya military spokesman

where are they supposed to go Mr Chirchir? can you tell the people where they can go without being mistaken for an alshabaab ? not via twitter though