She suffered injuries during an Al Shabaab attack in Lamu on July 14/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 27 – Public Works Principal Secretary Mariam El Maawy who was attacked in Lamu in July is dead.
State House has confirmed that the PS died while undergoing treatment in South Africa where she was admitted following the July 14 terrorist attack in which seven other people–mainly security forces were killed.
“She succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in South Africa,” State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu told Capital FM News on telephone.
El Maawy was kidnapped at Milihoi on the Mpeketoni-Lamu road leading to a major security operation by police and military personnel but sustained injuries when the vehicle caught fire.
Her nephew was among those killed in the attack.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta is deeply distressed to learn that Mariam El Maawy has passed away. She was a dedicated public servant; an accomplished architect; and a patriot,” Esipisu said in a statement sent to newsrooms on Wednesday night.
El-Maawy is the latest victim of the Somalia-based terror group that has staged numerous attacks in Lamu where they often target security forces. More than 100 locals have also been killed since the beginning of the year.
The group is also blamed for attacks in northern Kenya and the capital Nairobi where they staged a deadly shooting at the Westgate Shopping Mall, killing 67 people including security forces—in a siege that lasted several hours.
Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu for the last 10 years, and also carries out occasional terrorist attacks in neighbouring Kenya.
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