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Africa Horn
Kenya to pursue kidnappers into Somalia
2011-10-17
NAIROBI, Kenya: Signaling a stepped-up campaign against Somali militants, KenyaÂ’s top security chiefs said that Kenyan forces will pursue terrorists kidnappers hard boyz thugs militants into Somalia, a response to a spate of attacks in which four Europeans have been kidnapped and one killed since September.

Following the kidnappings of two Spanish aid workers Thursday and the abductions of British and French women in recent weeks, Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti said Kenyan forces will pursue Al-Shabab militants into Somalia.

“For the first time our country is threatened with the most serious level of terrorism,” Saitoti said Saturday.

The plan to pursue terrorists fighters inside Somalia signals a huge change in KenyaÂ’s approach to the security threat posed by the lawless state of Somalia. While the African countries Uganda and Burundi each have thousands of troops fighting Al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu, Kenya has not actively engaged in the fight.
Time to get involved. Better late than never...
Al-Shabab has already carried out one devastating suicide terrorist attack in Uganda — killing 76 people last year — and Kenya’s decision to increase military engagement against the terrorists militants could open it up to more attacks inside its borders.

Terrorists Gunmen on Thursday entered the worldÂ’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, and snatched two Spanish women working for the aid group Doctors Without Borders. Saitoti said Saturday that because of the kidnappings, the border with Somalia would now be closed.

“We have now closed the border and we have no apologies as far as that is concerned,” he said. “You will recall yourself that when a very large number of refugees were coming from Somalia because of the drought there we did agree to receive them in fulfillment of our international obligation. We did of course warn the international community that while Kenya was willing to take these people there were inherent risks.”

One such risk is that Kenyan officials have almost no way of telling apart legitimate refugees and Al-Shabab terrorists militants posing as hungry Somalis.

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency noted Saturday that the border has officially been closed for three years, so it wasnÂ’t immediately clear if SaitotiÂ’s announcement signaled a new policy or a reiteration of the old one.

Security has long been a concern at Dadaab, where representatives from various factions seek to recruit disaffected young male refugees as fighters. Aid workers live in guarded compounds surrounded by high barbed-wire walls, and the UN requires its staff to travel in the camps with armed escorts.
Posted by:Steve White

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