Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group Al-Shabab is spoiling for a fight with Kenya and the United States.
Embolden by their Sunday dawn attack at a military airbase in Kenya’s lamu that hosts U.S. and Kenyan counter-terrorism forces, that left three Americans dead and several US aircraft and vehicles. destroyed, al-Shabab is now threatening more deadly attacks. Four militants were killed in the attack, according to Kenya military spokesperson Paul Njuguna.
On Wednesday, the terror group warned Kenya to withdraw its military from Somalia or face further attacks.
“Withdraw all your forces from our Muslim lands while you still have the chance. Otherwise brace yourselves for the worst and prepare for perilous times ahead, because Kenya will never be safe and Kenyans will never sleep soundly at night,” a statement from the group said.
Al-Shabab further threatened the safety of citizens and tourists visiting the country saying that they “will no longer be safe” during their holidays and travels.
The warning comes close to a year since Al-Shabab staged an attack on the five-star dusitD2 Hotel in Nairobi which left 21 dead. Their attack on the military base in Lamu also happened just four days after militants from the terror group killed three people and injured three others who were travelling along the Mombasa-Lamu road.
In response to the military base attack, United States deployed a contingent of American crisis response soldiers to beef up security at the Manda Bay airfield base.
The East Africa Response Force (EARF) was deployed to secure the base. Manda Bay base, also known as Camp Simba, is a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) military base which is used by US forces to provide training and counter-terrorism support to its East African partners, respond to crises, and protect US interests.
“The EARF provides a critical combat-ready, rapid deployment force. The EARF’s ability to respond to events spanning a vast area of responsibility provides a proven and invaluable on-call reinforcement capability in times of need,” said US Africa Command (Africom) Director of Operations Major-General William Gayler in a statement on Tuesday.
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