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| Africa Horn |
| Military jets hunt down attackers in Lamu forests |
| 2014-07-15 |
| Kenya Air Force jets overflew two forests in Lamu where the gunmen behind the recent killings are believed to be hiding and witnesses reported hearing two loud bangs, raising the possibility that there could have been targeted attacks against the suspects. In interviews with the Nation, residents of Pandanguo and Jima areas, some 30 kilometres North of Witu trading centre, claimed the jets dropped explosives inside Gorji and Belasange forests. A senior security official in Lamu County confirmed the raids but a KDF information operations officer, Colonel Willy Wesonga, could not either confirm or deny the reports. "We are in an operation and the person you could talk to would be the one on the ground with our troops," he said. The Nation team visited Jima area and found soldiers who had parked several vehicles there. Villagers said they had seen over 100 soldiers headed for the two forests. Despite the military campaign, families were still leaving the area yesterday heading towards Witu after an attack on Saturday night. The attackers, who villagers say claimed to be members of Al-Shabaab, raided the village and left after harvesting green maize from a farm there. The farm's owner, Mr Mohammed Ali Gelogelo, said the raiders arrived shortly after 9 pm and ransacked his house before descending on the farm. "I was hiding behind a tree deep in the farm and I could see them walking around. They were heavily armed young men. I watched them as they harvested," he said. Mr Jarajara, who said he came face with the attackers, among them a tall man who appeared to be of European descent, said the raiders identified themselves as members of Al-Shabaab. "They asked me whether I was a Muslim. When I responded in the affirmative, two of them started talking to me in Kiswahili and then translated (the conversation) into Arabic to the tall white man. They told me that they were Al-Shabaab members and they would return once more." He claimed that the attackers were of different nationalities including Somalis and Kenyans. |
| Posted by:Steve White |