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2 Al Shabaab shot dead after killing 4 people in Garissa

Police respond to an Al Shabaab attack when they stormed Garissa University College, killing 148 people – mainly students in April 2015/Photo-FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 7 – Two Al Shabaab terrorists were shot dead by police Tuesday morning, following an attack in which they killed four people near the Somalia border.

The attack occurred at Saretho area, 25 kilometers from Dadaab Refugee camp, police said.

“Two of the attackers have been killed,” said Police Spokesman Charles Owino, “They had killed four people and were now trying to destroy a communication mast when they were engaged by officers.”

He said the attackers were more than ten, and the others were repulsed while on a mission to cause more mayhem in the area.

“Security has been beefed up in the area,” Owino said, following the incident that occurred at 5am.

The Al-Qaeda-linked group has in the past carried out bloody sieges against civilians in the country, such as the upmarket Westgate Mall in 2013 and Garissa University in 2015.

The uptick in tensions comes just days before the one-year anniversary of an attack at Dusit Hotel complex which left 21 people dead on January 15, 2019.

On Monday Al Shabaab launched an attack at a US military base in Lamu, killing a US soldier and two civilian contractors before five of them were shot dead in a joint operation with Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

The attackers breached heavy security at Camp Simba at dawn but were pushed back and five jihadists killed, said army spokesman Colonel Paul Njuguna.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of our teammates who lost their lives today,” General Stephen Townsend, the head of US Africa Command (Africom), said in a statement.

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Two other US Department of Defense personnel were wounded, the statement added, without giving further details.

Kenyan authorities are categorical that there was no casualty on the side of the KDF, dismissing a tweet by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which tweeted, “Saddened to learn that American and Kenyan lives were lost during a heinous terrorist attack on Kenya-US operating base early this (Monday) morning.”

The Lamu region, which includes popular tourist beach destination Lamu Island, lies close to the Somali frontier and has suffered frequent attacks, often carried out with roadside bombs.

Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai said officers were “on high alert” after the attack.

“We are not taking any chances, and that is why we want the public to work very closely with us,” Mutyambai told Capital FM News.

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