NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 3 – The Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies (CHRIPS), has released an analysis revealing a surge in fatalities linked to terrorism in 2023, with the death toll rising to 178, up from 116 in 2022.
Despite the grim statistics, CHRIPS, a think tank that monitors and documents terror-related activities, emphasized that the number of terror incidents fell by 5.2 per cent, a testament to the government’s intensified efforts to combat violent extremism.
The report highlighted June as the most lethal month, with 58 casualties and an equal number of injuries.
“75 security officials lost their lives after being targeted while in transit, on patrol, or within police stations,” CHRIPS noted.
At the peak of the attacks, CHRIPS noted beheadings of civilians in Juhudi and Salama villages in Lamu and the wounding of 18 officers due to an IED explosion.
The counties of Mandera, Lamu, Garissa, and Wajir bore the brunt of the terror activities, with Mandera experiencing the highest frequency of attacks for the fifth consecutive year.
“Garissa and Lamu witnessed a steady increase in attacks. Wajir demonstrated a decline in attacks over the same period,” CHRIPS data revealed.
59 arrests
State agencies made a significant number of arrests related to terrorism in the North Eastern region, particularly near the Kenya-Somali border.
In Garissa alone, security agencies detained 12 individuals, some on suspicion of planning to join extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab and ISIS.
Security agencies equally made significant arrests in Kilifi, Marsabit, and Siaya.
“The observatory database recorded 59 arrests up from 29 in the past year,” the group noted.
‘The arrests included 16 Kenyans and 12 foreigners: 10 Tanzanians, 3 Somalis, 1 Ugandan, and 29 others of unspecified nationalities,” the center detailed.
The report also shed light on the foiled terror plots by security forces, contributing to a 6.5 per cent reduction in attacks from the previous year.
In a global context, terrorism claimed 8,352 lives in 2023, marking a 22 per cent increase from the previous year.
However, this figure remains 23 per cent lower than the peak recorded in 2015, according to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
