Al Shabaab terror group has adopted new attack tactics in its operations in Kenya. The group, whose members have bombed, killed and maimed many Kenyans, is now waging war right inside the Kenyan borders.
According to security analysts, the terrorists, who have been attacking Kenya from their bases in Somalia, have now pitched camp in the country after being overwhelmed by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) who are part of the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
Simiyu Werunga, a security expert, noted that the group is now engaged in insurgency. “They are now moving away from terrorism to insurgency.
They are attacking security installations, storming police stations, burning vehicles and killing people,” Werunga noted. He added that Al Shabaab, which has confirmed that it cooperates with Nigeria’s Boko Haram, is employing the same tactics used by the latter.
“Boko Haram is using Sambisa forest as their base. Al Shabaab now want to make Boni forest their base. They want to create space that they can control,” Werunga said. Gerald Mong’are, head of media and communication at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, echoed Werunga’s sentiments. “Al Shabaab has dropped its traditional methods because our security personnel have mastered them.
Kidnapping has not been their method of unleashing terror,” Mong’are said, adding that because of the dynamism of terrorism, the militants are now more creative in their operations.
He said Kenya’s security forces are doing their best by employing all tactics to deal with Al Shabaab. “I call on Kenyans to be more vigilant and report suspicious activities, people and items to authorities to help the security deal with the cases,” Mong’are said.
Al Shabaab terrorists have increased their activities in the country recently. On July 5, suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a police station in Lamu, destroyed its communication mast and had it under siege.
To drive the attackers from the forest, Government, in the past four days, has engaged in a bombing exercise, coordinated by Coast Regional Security Coordinator Nelson Marwa. In the past two years, Al Shabaab militants have staged more than 40 attacks in Lamu.
