KENYA-ATTACK/BODIES Kenya says it has killed an al Shabaab commander and possibly a militant Briton

Record ID: 151174

  • Title: KENYA-ATTACK/BODIES Kenya says it has killed an al Shabaab commander and possibly a militant Briton
  • Date: 15th June 2015
  • Summary: MPEKETONI, KENYA (JUNE 15, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BODIES OF AL SHABAAB MILITANTS ON THE GROUND WITH PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND BODIES POLICEMEN WITH MASKS STANDING OVER THE BODIES VARIOUS OF MILITANTS' FEET BODY OF A CAUCASIAN FIGHTER OFFICIAL INSPECTING BODIES VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WALKING PAST THE BODIES
  • Embargoed: 30th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB4XD20AE03YCZ7DAWVXGZ16DO
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Kenya's army said on Monday (June 15) that it killed a regional commander from Somalia's al Shabaab group, and possibly also a Briton who joined the militants, in fighting over the weekend.
    Eleven Somali militants and two Kenyan soldiers died when al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab fighters attacked a military base in Kenya's northern coastal region of Lamu County on Sunday (June 14), officials said.
    An al Shabaab spokesman, Abdiasis Abu Musab, said 20 Kenyan soldiers died and "some of our fighters were martyred" in two attacks in Lamu, giving no details about the fighters or the second assault.
    Among those killed was al Shabaab's Luqman Osman Issa, also known as Shirwa, blamed for leading attacks on Kenya's Mpeketoni area a year ago in which 65 people were killed, Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said on Monday.
    He also said the dead may have included Thomas Evans, also known as Abdul Hakim, a Briton in his mid-20s who converted to Islam aged 19 and later joined al Shabaab.
    Obonyo said data about Evans and pictures publicly available "point at him".
    Obonyo said another man of apparently of Caucasian or Arab origin was among the dead, while the others killed appeared to be from the region.
    Britain said it could not confirm whether Evans had been killed.
    Al Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, has frequently targeted neighbouring Kenya in recent years, saying it is retaliating for Kenya's participation in an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
    In April, al Shabaab militants raided a university in the northern Kenyan city of Garissa, killing nearly 150 students, and in September 2013 militants killed at least 67 people in an attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall.
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