KENYA-ATTACKS/MINISTER Kenya says al Shabaab attackers aimed to kill 150

Record ID: 148133

  • Title: KENYA-ATTACKS/MINISTER Kenya says al Shabaab attackers aimed to kill 150
  • Date: 7th July 2015
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JULY 7, 2015) (REUTERS) KENYA CABINET SECRETARY FOR INTERNAL SECURITY AND COORDINATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, JOSEPH NKAISSERY, WALKS TO PODIUM WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS KENYAN COAT OF ARMS (SOUNDBITE) (English), KENYA'S INTERNAL SECURITY AND COORDINATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT CABINET SECRETARY, JOSEPH NKAISSERY, SAYING: "Today, at 1:30 a.m., a grou
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADCBYDGPYQ8WCQPPXEN3IZNOH6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery described the al Shabaab attack on a residential estate in Mandera that killed 14 people as "heinous" and "evil" but said on Tuesday (July 7) the country would not be "cowed by these evil murderers".
    Al Shabaab gunmen killed 14 people, mostly quarry workers, in an overnight attack on a residential complex in northeast Kenya that the Islamic militant group said had targeted Christians mirroring a raid in one in the same county in December in which 36 quarry workers died.
    The group has made a series of deadly incursions into Kenya, which it says will continue until Nairobi withdraws its troops from an African Union force fighting the militants in their home base of Somalia.
    Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said al Shabaab had raided the residential estate with an intention of executing close to 150 residents of that estate.
    "Today, at 1:30 a.m., a group of armed al Shabaab terrorists sneaked in from Somalia and raided a residential estate in Mandera town. The attackers blew up the gate of the estate using IEDs. The intention of the heinous murderers was to take siege of the quarters with the aim of executing the 150 residents of the estate," said Nkaisserry.
    "Eleven Kenyans were killed during the attack, while three others succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in Mandera," he added.
    Tuesday's raid will heighten pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to beef up security in response to al Shabaab attacks, the worst of which killed 148 people at a university in eastern Kenya's Garissa County in April.
    He said security reacted swiftly to prevent a higher death toll after the group opened their attack by blowing up an entrance gate to the residential area.
    "Once again, this attack is a clear reminder that al Shabaab and its collaborators are determined to disrupt and subvert our way of life. I take this opportunity to reiterate that Kenya shall never be cowed by these evil murderers," Nkaisserry added.
    After the Garissa attack, critics accused the security forces responding too slowly, one reason cited for the number killed in that attack.
    Al Shabaab aims to topple Somalia's Western-backed government and wants to impose its own strict version of Islamic law on the country.
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