MILITANTS OVERRUN POLICE POST IN LAMU COUNTY
(Posted 16th June 2014 00.39 hrs)
Information about an attack by militants on a police post in Lamu county is emerging from Kenya where in Mpeketoni the station was apparently overrun, weapons and vehicles taken and the station then burned before the attackers withdrew from the scene.
Details now circulating in Kenya speak of as many as 6 dead, as the militants reportedly also attacked local restaurants, lodging places and the fuel station, prompting local residents to flee into the bush to escape the fighting.
It is understood that a significant number of Kenyan security forces are enroute to the scene after the reports first came in around 20.30 hrs local time and that airborne support is expected to join the search at first light to pursue the attackers.
The attack is a gruesome reminder of what happened in September 2011 when suspected Somali Al Shabaab radicals abducted several foreigners from tourist hotels and from a refugee camp inside Kenya, eventually prompting the armed intervention by Kenya in Somalia aimed to push the radicals back from the border and in conjunction with the UN / AU forces in Somalia defeat the militants. While significant progress was made in Somalia to restore large parts of the country to central government rule are patches still occupied by Al Shabaab which in the meantime has taken their fight into Kenya with numerous small scale attacks along the border towns and villages but also with bus and market bombings in Nairobi and Mombasa. The latter was then literally declared off limits by the British government in an unprecedented anti travel advisory which triggered an immediate evacuation of hundreds of British tourists from their beach resorts, even though all attacks were directed against Kenyans and no foreigners have come to harm.
This latest score by militants will no doubt be used by the British and other governments to reaffirm their position vis a vis travel to Kenya and areas declared off limit for regular travelers, while the Kenyan tourism fraternity, when waking up on Monday morning, will be faced with yet another incident overshadowing the industry’s efforts to recover from a sustained downturn of fortunes.
The attack comes a day after a grenade attack near a mosque at the Stone Town in Unguja / Zanzibar’s main island, making it clear that the threat of such terror groups is not limited to just Kenya but a wider regional problem. Watch this space for upcoming updates as and when more details can be confirmed.
Latest information received just before 8 a.m. indicates that the death toll may have risen to some 30 though no full picture is yet available on the damage, casualties overall and those injured. The figure was provided by Lamu Deputy Governor Eric Mugo.
It is also confirmed that contingents of the Kenya Defense Forces and other security organs have been dispatched to the location and an aerial surveillance operation is underway since daylight, aimed at tracking down the attackers.
While Deputy Governor Mugo says there is no clear evidence yet of Al Shabaab involvement that is by common consensus the most likely group, directly or through an affiliate, to have carried out this organized attack. Stand by for more news as and when available.
Update 2 at 08.45 hrs local East African time:
The number of casualties reported has risen steadily over the past hour and now stands according to the latest report received from Mombasa at 48 dead and a significant number of injured in the face of very limited medical facilities for adequate treatment. It is understood that the Kenyan government is planning to airlift those injured to Mombasa or Nairobi to provide the best possible medical care. Many of those killed appear to be police officers and men.
There are also suggestions being made now in the Kenyan media that while the police station in Mpeketoni raised the alarm before 9 pm it took the upper echelons in the chain of command up to four hours to get their act together to begin responding.
A Mombasa based source, on condition of anonymity, alleged that ‘these people were busy watching World Cup matches and that why it took so long’ – which if true would paint a devastating picture of the state of alertness and preparedness of the Kenyan security apparatus.
Update 3: Mpeketoni is about 100 kilometres from the border with Somalia and about 30 kilometres south of Lamu itself. This part of Kenya is not on any tourism circuit and few foreigners have ever set foot into the small town. Information from trustworthy sources at the Kenya coast now speak of at least 30 attackers, many of them described as ethnic Somalis. Many of the victims were reportedly shot dead at the local hotel where they were watching a FIFA World Cup match. The death toll is expected to rise further as critically wounded are still awaiting treatment though some have been evacuated by air to hospitals for emergency surgery.
Kenya’s security chiefs meanwhile face a tsunami of calls in the mainstream media and on the social media to resign or else to be sacked for once again failing to protect Kenyans.
