Kenya: At Least 22 People Killed as Al-Shabaab Claims Deadly Attacks

By Staff Writer

At least 22 people have been killed in new attacks on Saturday by gunmen in two counties on Kenyan coastal region,  where last month Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for killing 65 people in Mpeketoni, Kenyan Red Cross Said on Sunday, July 6. 

The Saturday July 5 night raids on the coastal towns of Hindi and Gamba left several people dead, and on Sunday, Al-Shabaab made claims that it was behind both attacks.

 Abdulaziz Abu Musab the group’s spokesperson said the group based in Somalia had carried out the attacks although police blamed the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a group that campaigns for independence of the coastal region.

"The attackers came back home safely to their base," Musab said, adding the militants had killed 10 people.

There are reports that pro-insurgent Radio Andalus carried a statement from another Al-Shabaab spokesperson that made the same claims

The death toll has steadily risen since the attacks on Saturday night, with the Kenyan Red Cross releasing an updated death toll Sunday on Twitter.

Njenga Miiri , Lamu county commissioner said 15 gunmen had raided Hindi about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the town of Mpeketoni, where dozens were killed in an attack last month  and started firing at residents.

In the Gamba incident, Kenya's police chief Inspector General (IG) David Kimaiyo said unidentified gunmen had attacked the police station killing 4 suspects held at the station and a police officer. They freed one of the suspects held over last month’s attack in the region.

"We had attacks at night where people were killed and houses destroyed. We have mobilized our officers and we are on the ground," said Robert Kitur, a senior Lamu police official.

In Hindi, all the dead in the town were men, apart from a teenage boy, who was reportedly shot as he tried to run away. The attackers also left messages scribbled in English and Swahili on a blackboard stolen from a school.

"You invade Muslim country and you want to stay in peace," one message stated.

Elizabeth Opindo, a resident said she had actually spoken to the attackers, who torched her home but let her live, saying they did not kill women. She said there were about 10 attackers, speaking a mix of English, Swahili and Somali, all common Kenyan languages.

"They said they were attacking because Muslims' lands were being taken," she said.

Kenya has suffered a number of gun and bomb attacks since deploying troops to Somalia in October 2011 to help fight militants from the Islamist group.

In September last year, Westgate Shopping Mall was under siege by Al-Shabaab in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, killing 67 people. Dozens more have died in smaller attacks elsewhere in the country.

Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for two Saturday attacks on coastal towns in Kenya. The militia group has vowed to push Kenyan troops out of Somalia.

Survivors of the previous massacres reported how gunmen speaking Somali and carrying Al-Shabaab flags killed non-Muslims in revenge for Kenya's presence in Somalia.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, however, denied that the Al-Shabaab were involved and instead blamed "local political networks" and criminal gangs, saying victims had been singled out because of their ethnicity.

Mpeketoni is a mainly Christian settlement in the Muslim-majority coastal region, which was settled decades ago by the Kikuyu people from central Kenya, the same tribe as Kenyatta. Police also arrested alleged MRC members as well as the opposition-affiliated governor of Lamu County in the wake of the Mpeketoni attack.

Lamu Island is a well-known tourist destination whose ancient architecture is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The unrest in the coastal region has already badly dented Kenya's tourist industry -- a key foreign currency earner and massive employer for the country -- at one of its traditionally busiest times of the year.

In a further blow to the sector, a Russian tourist was murdered on Saturday in Mombasa while touring Fort Jesus, a 16th century Portuguese-built fort and another UNESCO World Heritage Site in what police said was a violent robbery.

"We are treating the incident as a normal thuggery incident," deputy police chief Kaindi told reporters.

Last month the Al-Shabaab, which has carried out a number of attacks on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Nairobi's military intervention in Somalia, warned foreign tourists to stay out of Kenya.

"Kenya is now officially a war zone and as such any tourists visiting the country do so at their own peril," the group said in a statement less than three weeks ago.