PHOTO/PHOEBE OKALL Col Cyrus Oguna during the Kenya Defence Forces media briefing on Saturday. He said KDF expects terror group al-Shabaab to retreat or surrender in the coming weeks.
By FRED MUKINDA fmukinda@ke.nationmedia.com and ISSA HUSSEIN issa.harun@gmail.com
Posted Saturday, February 4 2012 at 21:03
Posted Saturday, February 4 2012 at 21:03
Three people were killed and one is in a critical condition at the Garissa Provincial Hospital following an attack in Garissa town that has been blamed on Al-Shabaab operatives.
The incident occurred on Friday evening as the victims took tea outside Jubba Hotel.
Two masked men
A witness at the hotel said two masked men armed with pistols walked up to the group and shot at the men, killing two of them instantly.
The third succumbed to bullet wounds as preparations to airlift him to Nairobi were made. The assailants ran off after the attack.
Relatives of the slain men say they believed it was an Al-Shabaab attack as one of the terrorist group’s leaders – identified only as Sheikh Ahmed – had claimed two of the victims were wanted by the militants because they had fled Somalia to sabotage the group.
Mr Hamud Sheikh Mohamed, an elder in Garissa who was among the first people at the scene, appealed to the government to ensure the security of the public since the incident has caused widespread panic in the town.
“Nobody is safe in this town if two youthful attackers can walk into the middle of the town armed with pistols, kill and walk away,” he said, urging the police to increase their patrols.
And in Nairobi, KDF told a news conference that they had conducted what they termed the finest air raid since the war against Al-Shabaab began, saying it had massively weakened the terrorist group.
The raid was carried out using helicopter gunships in Dalayat at 5pm on Friday.
“This is one of the best attacks ever. We got them (Al-Shabaab militants) in vehicles before they could alight.
"They were planning to attack our troops at Badade and we caught them unawares,” said the officer in charge of operations and information, Col Cyrus Oguna.
Nine lorries and an equal number of technical vehicles mounted with heavy artillery were destroyed, he said.
Colonel Oguna said many Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and others injured. The attack, he said, meant that KDF would continue occupying Hosingo and Badade townships, where they had ousted Al-Shabaab a week earlier.
Col Oguna said the captured towns had been used by Al-Shabaab as transit points for explosive devices which were then smuggled into Kenya.
“They also contributed to erosion of the economy in Kenya since they provided routes for contraband goods like electronics and sugar. The IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) in Garissa and Wajir may also be reduced,” he said.
Col Oguna added: “Al-Shabaab is completely weakened. Their source of revenue is destroyed and they are ceding more ground. In the coming weeks, we expect the Al-Shabaab to back off, retreat or surrender.”
“They also contributed to erosion of the economy in Kenya since they provided routes for contraband goods like electronics and sugar. The IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) in Garissa and Wajir may also be reduced,” he said.
Col Oguna added: “Al-Shabaab is completely weakened. Their source of revenue is destroyed and they are ceding more ground. In the coming weeks, we expect the Al-Shabaab to back off, retreat or surrender.”
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