US issues fresh travel advisory as ambassador requests more security

Nairobi, Kenya: The US ambassador to Kenya has requested additional Kenyan and American security personnel and is reducing the size of the embassy staff because of an increase in terror threats in the country.

The Associated Press said the ambassador made the requests in a letter sent to embassy employees Friday.

Ambassador Robert Godec said additional police are already patrolling around the embassy and that more assets will arrive from Washington next week.

The embassy warned Americans last week that it was taking new security steps because of recent threat information.

Thursday, the US renewed travel advisory to its citizens, cautioning them against any travel to the coast region after another warning had been issued last month.

“Based on the recent changes in Kenya’s security situation, the Embassy is also relocating some staff to other countries.  However, the Embassy will remain open for normal operations," read the advisory on the US government website.

"This replaces the Travel Warning of May 17, 2014, to update information about embassy staffing and current travel recommendations,” added the stetement.

Apart from the US, Britain, France and Australia have also warned of terror threats in Nairobi and Mombasa. Britain has evacuated more than 360 of its nationals since last Thursday from Mombasa alone. Al Shabaab militants have been blamed for an increasing number of attacks in Kenya but some of them have been blamed on homegrown terrorism.

"Unfortunately, the security situation in Kenya, especially in Nairobi and Mombasa, continues to worsen. Since the tragic events of Westgate in September 2013, the number of attacks, threats, and warnings is deeply concerning," Godec said, referring to the assault on Westgate Mall by four al-Shabab gunmen that killed at least 67 people.

Since the Westgate attack, there have been at least 12 explosions in Nairobi killing more than 20 people, Godec's letter said.

The latest were the twin explosions in Gikomba market, Nairobi that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 70.

According to AP, the US Embassy in Nairobi, which was relocated after the 1998 attack, sits far off the road and is surrounded by thick walls.

Armed Marines have recently begun patrolling the grounds wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets. The frequency of emergency drills that tell embassy personnel to "duck and cover" have also increased.

The largest US diplomatic facility in East Africa, the embassy has about 1,300 employees or more inside it on any given day. Godec said he is reducing the embassy's "overall footprint" in Kenya by reducing the number of Americans stationed in Nairobi.

According to AP, Scott Gration, a former US ambassador in Kenya, said in an interview Friday that embassies are a "magnet for people that have ideological tendencies," and that they are a target whether a security warning has recently been posted or not.

Kenya has experienced an increase of attacks since it sent its troops to Somalia to combat Al Shabaab in 2011. But opinion is divided on if the troops' raid is the cause with some asking why such incidents are not reported in Ethiopia, Uganda or Burundi that have equally sent their personnel to Somalia.