Police warn of possible terror attacks from Al-Shabaab fleeing from KDF, ask for vigilance

Police have issued a warning of possible terror attacks from Al-Shabaab fleeing from KDF

Nairobi, Kenya: Police have warned that terror group Al-Shabaab may be heading to Kenya to launch attacks after 34 militias were killed over the weekend by Kenya Defence Forces and Somali National Army.

Police want Kenyans to be vigilant to deter the plans by reporting any suspicious people or objects.

According to National Police Service spokesman George Kinoti, the militants have been fleeing Somalia towards Kenya following intensive operations and there is a real danger that some may stage attacks in the country.

"Arising out of stepped up operations in Somalia by the KDF, Al-Shabaab elements have been on the run in different directions with some heading towards our border. There is therefore real danger that some may slip undetected to stage attacks in our country," he said.

Security agencies want guards to be thorough in screening individuals and vehicles entering premises.

Public Service Vehicles, hotel operators and other service providers are also urged to be extra vigilant. Security operations have been stepped up ahead of the Easter Holidays.

More than 900 Kenyans have been killed in terror related attacks in the past ten years.

The militants have been under intense pressure inside Somalia in the past months with close to 300 killed in two months. Security agencies in the operations say they recovered arsenal and vehicles.

For instance, last week, more than 50 militants were killed in a botched attack on a military camp. The militants are said to have planned an attack on a camp occupied by Amisom and SNA troops in Afmadhow, Lower Juba Region.

Kenya has about 4,000 troops in the 22,000-strong African Union force battling al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda, in Somalia.

The incidents come weeks after the US strike killed more than 150 Al-Shabaab militants.

The Pentagon said the killings happened at a training camp where large scale was being planned.

Officials said the strike, by both drones and manned aircraft, targeted Raso Camp, a training facility about 195 kilometres north of the capital, Mogadishu.

The terror group, which is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has continued to launch frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.

The group has carried out a string of attacks in and out of Kenya including the January 15 one in El-Adde where they killed 180 KDF personnel.

The air strike is seen as a major blow to the terrorist as it came before Australian Navy seized a huge cache of weapons on a fishing boat off the coast of Oman that was headed for Somalia.

The weapons included grenade launchers, machine guns, and 2,000 AK47 assault rifles were concealed under fishing nets, a Navy spokesman said.

Naval officers discovered the arsenal hidden between fishing nets when they searched the stateless vessel about 313 kilometres off the coast of Oman.

Close to 90 assorted machine guns and 20 military mortar tubes were also found on the boat.

Al-Shabaab terror attacks have been on the increase since Kenyan troops crossed to Somalia to crush the group in 2011. They have been blamed on killings of more than 900 Kenyans and left more than 1,000 others injured in separate attacks.