Kenya: Six Die from Somali Al-Shabab Attack

By Staff Writer

LIBOI--At least six people including two policemen have been killed following raid by Somalia’s dreaded militant group, al-Shabab, over the Kenyan border.

Two of the victims in the Saturday attack on Abdisugow and Damajale border posts were policemen, Kenyan police officials confirmed.

A witness told a local daily newspaper that several balaclava clad assailants armed with AK47 riffles stormed the two police camps killing six people including civilians and leaving several others injured. Among those killed include a local Red Cross official, a 15-year-old boy, a high school teacher and unidentified civilian.

The Somali al-Qaeda linked Islamist fighters have claimed responsibility of the attack, saying that eight people had been killed.

 "We have gone 35km (21 miles) into Kenya and burnt their base, Damajale, last night," al-Shabab’s military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters news agency.

The group further claimed following a posting on its social media that it had captured two more people and taken them into Somalia.

Head of Kenyan police Inspector General David Kimaiyo, told the reporters that six people were still missing after the Saturday night attack. He said a special force of paramilitary police had been deployed immediately after the attack was reported.

"We will pursue the attackers to the end," Mr Kimaiyo said.

The Islamist group seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, imposing harsh Islamic rule in areas it controls. A spate of cross-border attacks inside Kenyan territory involving several kidnappings saw Kenya send its forces in 2011 into Somalia to uproot the militia activities there.

A successful mission by the Kenyan troops alongside the 17000-strong African Union forces have since pushed out al-Shabab from strategic locations it once controlled, giving more sway to the newly elected government.

Though it still controls swathes of territories in central and southern Somalia, al-Shabab, weakened by the AU offense has resorted to conducting roadside bomb and gun attacks.

It has been behind several attacks in the Somali capital, Mogadishu and within Kenya, which have become more rampant since the launch of the onslaught.