KDF foil attack on camp, kill Al Shabaab militants

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) killed 11 Al-Shabaab terrorists who attacked a military camp at Baure in Lamu County on Saturday evening.

Two Caucasian fighters were reportedly among those killed by KDF soldiers who battled the attackers for hours following the 6pm attack.

"This morning, suspected Al-Shabaab terrorists attempted an attack on a KDF camp at Baure, 39km north of Bargoni," said KDF spokesman David Obonyo in a statement, adding KDF soldiers "aggressively" repulsed them and killed 11 militants including two fighters of Caucasian origin.

Sunday, Col Obonyo said the area was still a military operation zone and they had seized 13 AK-47 rifles, five rocket-propelled grenades and eight hand grenades from the attackers. Police also said they recovered 49 AK-47 magazines, 2,244 rounds of ammunition and Al-Shabaab flags.

"Regrettably, KDF lost two soldiers in the firefight," Obonyo said, adding the attackers most likely came on foot from Somalia as the border is several kilometres away.

Obonyo told The Standard the "area around Baure is still too dangerous" as fighting was still going on between KDF soldiers and militants who fled into the nearby Boni Forest.

The spokesman said the foreign fighters had not been identified. KDF later handed out a picture of the slain terrorists that included images of two light-skinned bodies. Police said the bodies would be taken to the Mpeketoni District Hospital mortuary Sunday for the lifting of fingerprints and other biometric data.

Intelligence sources told The Standard the two Caucasians are believed to be Britons who converted to Islam and who have been in Somalia since last year's raid on Mpeketoni. They are said to have participated in last year's carnage in the town. According to the sources, six KDF soldiers were injured in the raid on the post.

A separate attack by militia on a local village was reported in the northern parts of the county close to the border with Garissa. Reports indicate they looted and burnt a local dispensary after harassing local Muslims whom they forced into a mosque at Mangai village to listen to Al-Shabaab messages.

Another gang had raided a construction site in Bulla Golol of Fafi in search of migrant workers after detonating an improvised explosive device on security forces' trucks.

First anniversary

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett said security forces were in search of the two groups of attackers in Lamu and Garissa counties.

"We appeal to residents to be on the lookout and report anyone seeking medical attention or any suspicious characters who may seek to hide among them," he said.

In the last two days, KDF has stepped up patrols in most parts of Lamu including Hindi, Kiunga and Mpeketoni towns in anticipation of a militant strike on the first anniversary of the attacks. The attacks brought back bitter memories for Mpeketoni residents, who were preparing to mark the anniversary.

Sunday, a memorial plaque for over 60 people killed in the Mepeketoni attack was unveiled at Mpeketoni's Uhuru Gardens after Muslim and Christian prayers led by Lamu Governor Issa Timamy. The victims were mostly men shot at close range or bayoneted on the evening of June 14.

Reports indicate several dozen heavily armed militia with black Islamist flags swarmed the village as residents were planning to attend evening prayers. The men were herded into the mosque by masked militants who spoke a mixture of Kiswahili, Somali and local languages and who delivered hate sermons in turn and justified the call to jihad.

The ordeal reportedly lasted an hour before the militants dashed out of the mosque towards Mangai Dispensary where they looted drugs then descended on Mangai Boarding Primary School that was to be opened later this month.

"They stole medicine and went to the school dormitory and set 124 mattresses and two motorcycles on fire before fleeing into the bush," said a civil servant who witnessed the raid but asked not to be named.

The events of the last 48 hours are an escalation of Al-Shabaab activity in the triangular area that covers southern Garissa and northern Lamu where the Kenyan border with Somalia meets the Indian Ocean amid dense bush and inaccessible islands.

On May 24 last year, suspected Al-Shabaab militants killed two KDF soldiers in Bargoni before launching the mass murders on Mpeketoni, three weeks later.

It is not clear whether the attacks were planned by Al-Shabaab but residents say the militants dropped leaflets promising to return.