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Africa Horn
Gunmen Attack Churches in Northeast Kenya
2012-07-02
[VOA News] On Sunday, gunnies attacked two churches in Garissa, a city in northeastern Kenya. At least 17 people were killed, and more than 40 maimed. The Somali thug group al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
and its supporters have been blamed for other attacks in Kenya.

Four gunnies attacked the African Inland Church in Garissa on Sunday morning. The shooters were masked in balaclavas, regional police chief Philip Ndolo told Rooters. They entered the church after throwing two grenades inside. Two grenades also went kaboom! in a nearby Roman Catholic Church. Two police are among the dead.

Qadr, a Garissa resident, is looking for his housekeeper. He fears she may be a victim of the attack.

"She's not around, I've been looking for her, I don't even know if she was one of those people who died," he said

Garissa is a city in northeastern Kenya populated by ethnic Somalis. Garissa is located 100 kilometers from Dadaab, home to what is often considered the largest refugee camp in the world. Dadaab has received a steady stream of Somalis fleeing the civil war in their country.

Kenyan troops invaded southern Somalia last October, joining African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops in a battle against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab Islamists. Since the Kenyan invasion, a wave of grenade attacks and kidnappings have beleaguered Kenya. Analysts believe al-Shabaab or its supporters may be behind these attacks.

Earlier this week, four foreign aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council were kidnapped in the Dadaab camp. Their Kenyan driver was killed.

In the last year several aid workers have been kidnapped from Dadaab. Many international NGOs and humanitarian groups have since scaled down their operations in the camp
Posted by:Fred

#2  Islamists know major cities can not survive without agricultural products from the country side. This is a first attempt to subdue the Christian country side and then lay seige to major cities.
Posted by: Thriling Jomons3297   2012-07-02 11:23  

#1  Up until this point they have been hitting small local pubs in Kenya with grenade attacks. Typically a car pulls up, a guy runs to the front door and tosses a grenade inside, then they exit quickly. Usually the targets are places with local citizens and relatively poor security. This switch to hitting churches is a concern - primarily because it's what Boko Haram has been doing in Nigeria. But the attack in Garissa happened in the far north of Kenya - well away from major population centers. Watch to see if this pattern is repeated by Al Shabaab (against churches) in major cities.
Posted by: Raider   2012-07-02 10:03  

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