Five killed and PS Mariam El-Maawy injured in Lamu Al Shabaab attack

Public Works Principal Secretary Mariam El Maawy was heading to Witu in Lamu when her car was hijacked by Al Shabaab militants.

Lamu, Kenya: Elite security forces Thursday rescued Public Works Principal Secretary Mariam El-Maawy from suspected Al Shabaab militants who had taken her captive in a remote part of the volatile Lamu County.

Officers from the Kenya Defence Force (KDF), the General Service Unit, and the Administration Police rescued the PS about 45 minutes after she and five other top government officials were kidnapped by the gunmen at Milihoi along the Lamu-Mpeketoni highway.

At least four security officers, including Ms El-Maawy’s driver, were killed in the operation following the 3pm abductions that marked a significant escalation of the low-level insurgency the militants have waged in parts of Lamu since early 2014.

Last evening a KDF helicopter airlifted El-Maawy to a hospital in Nairobi. Sources said she had a bullet lodged in her left shoulder and burns on her legs.

A photograph of the PS, dressed in a black dress and a veil as she lay on the ground, showed that she had bandages on her hands and legs. The burns are also visible. She was taken to Mpeketoni Hospital before she was airlifted to Nairobi. At the health centre, another injured victim of the attack was brought in by an ambulance at about 6pm. The fate of the other four who were rescued is unclear.

According to local residents and police, the attack happened at Milihoi between Koreni and Hindi, about 40km northeast of Mpeketoni town.

The PS’s official vehicle was found about a kilometre away, an hour later burnt to ashes with the body of a male person, believed to have been shot, as some of the militants retreated into Boni Forest.

Reports indicate that the PS and several aides, including bodyguards, were seized by the armed militia at Milihoi on the highway between Mpeketoni and Mokowe on the Lamu coast. They were flagged down by the insurgents, who had captured several trucks on the road.

Area residents said about 30 militants had seized two other Toyota Prado vehicles, which they released after abducting El-Maawy and other passengers in her vehicle.

Police sources said a driver of a lorry that was transporting food to Mpeketoni had been abducted earlier.

“One militant was dressed as a woman and was using the truck driver as a shield. When the PS’s vehicle slowed down because of the bad roads, they forced the driver to stop and ordered him to move to the back seat,” said the police source.

He said the truck driver was then ordered to drive the PS’s vehicle to the bush and after a few kilometres, he was forced to get out and shot in the back.

Within 45 minutes of the attack, KDF special forces and police elite teams backed by air firepower went after the militia members. Helicopters could be seen flying over Mpeketoni.

“A KDF platoon, both ground and air, responded to the incident swiftly,” explained KDF spokesman Col Joseph Owuoth. “The PS has been rescued in the operation and she will be airlifted to Nairobi,” he added.

Lorry with food

El-Maawy, who is from Lamu, was heading to Witu to visit families that have been evicted by the ongoing fighting between the security agencies and the Al Shabaab militants.

Coast regional police boss Larry Kieng said there were casualties in the incident but did not specify the number.

“There are casualties but the PS is safe. The operation is ongoing,” he said.

The bandits escaped with a lorry that was carrying the food that the PS and her group had planned to distribute to those who have been displaced by attacks.

“She was spared because she is a Muslim. The gang did not know who she was and all they were interested in was her car and the lorry with food,” said a witness.

El-Maawy and her entourage were going for a security meeting in Jima, where at least nine people were at the weekend beheaded.

She was later to hold other development-related meetings in the area before flying back to Mombasa.

The incident, according to Col Owuoth, happened at about 3pm. It took about 45 minutes to rescue her.

The director general of the Lamu Port Southern Sudan Ethiopia Tranport (Lapsset) Corridor, Silvester Kasuku, said the PS was from a meeting with his officials on Lamu Island.

“She had a very fruitful meeting with Lapsset officials and left for Witu to visit internally displaced people. I cannot confirm whether she was the one who was hijacked,” said Kasuku.

For several hours the PS’s cellphone went unanswered, according to police sources. The attacks happened as Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa was holding a security meeting in Mpeketoni.

In another incident, a lorry conductor was taken hostage by criminals in the same area before being set free.

Reporting by Cyrus Ombati, Jane Mugambi, and Bernard Sanga

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