Suicide bombers were ahead of Kenyan security

By JUMA KWAYERA

The Wednesday suicide bomb strikes near a hotel where newly elected Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud is residing were clearly coordinated as the timing and execution pointed to high possibility of the militia group having obtained intelligence ahead of the Kenyan delegation’s trip.

Barely ten minutes after Prof Sam Ongeri’s delegation had checked into Al Jazeera Palace Hotel, the first blast went off, just outside the gate, next to two of the Humvees (armoured military trucks) that ferried the delegation to the hotel from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) camp.

Immediately after the first blast, two men, one donning an Amisom jungle jacket, forced their way into the premises.

One of the men shot dead a guard at the hotel gate before he was himself killed by a hail of bullets, as the other headed towards the Humvees that ferried Ongeri from the army barracks to the venue. The latter was shot dead by a Ugandan soldier who was drawing water at a tap nearby after he failed to obey orders to stop.

STRAPPED WITH EXPLOSIVES

Upon inspection, the two men were found to have been strapped with explosives belts.

It was at this point that a deadlier explosion occurred some 100 metres outside the hotel.

Amisom soldiers said they were forced to fire at a speeding car, which immediately blew up.

The impact of the explosion dug a heap of soil from the murram road atop of which sat the bloodied head of the suicide bomber.

According to Col Chege, head of security in Mogadishu who was instrumental in securing the hotel, the bombs would have been detonated at the hotel reception to inflict a devastating impact.

The departure from Wilson Airport had been delayed by more than two hours as it was said Ongeri had an early morning commitment.

Although the foreign office denied it, it turned out the delay was part of security arrangement, and not a just coincidence.

Suspicions that elements in the former regime were involved were lent credence by revelations that a senior government officer called Kenya’s Foreign Affairs office on the eve of the elections seeking answers about why Kenya wanted a regime change in his country.

In addition, a decision by the commander of the Kenyan troops in Amisom, Maj-Gen S N Karanja and head of Amisom security in Mogadishu, Col Chege prevented what would have been a devastating blow inflicted on Kenya and Somali governments.

They two had directed drivers of two Humvees at the tail-end of Ongeri’s convoy to park outside the gate of the hotel.

The soldiers inside the Humvees are the ones who battled the terrorists before they gained entry into the premises.

ACTED ON INSTINCT

Both Amisom and TFG soldiers who were guarding the vehicles acted instinctively to avert tragedy after the first suicide bomber blew himself in what the soldiers explained was intended to divert attention by creating confusion.

In the ensuing melee, a Uganda Army soldier accidentally shot his colleague dead.

Al Shabaab is seeking revenge against Kenya, whose troops are deployed in southern Somalia in the fight against terrorist militia.

Prior to the elections on September 10, a section of the militia had warned of an imminent blast in Kenya if it supported regime change in Somalia.

The vehicles in which Ongeri, MPs Adan Keynan, Mohammed Affey and Fred Kapondi, among others, were in were clearly targets of a suicide bomber. Luckily, the delegation had already made their way to the hotel less than ten minutes earlier.

Business
Premium Burdened Kenyans walk into Easter weekend broke
Business
Premium Looming crisis as top lenders stare at Sh500b in bad loans
Business
Premium Water PS Korir put on the spot over Sh14m dam land
Business
Premium Ruto's food security hopes facing storm amid fake fertiliser scam