Nairobi: Jihadists from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab group on Sunday attacked a military base used by US and Kenyan forces in Kenya’s coastal Lamu region, the army spokesman said.
The strike on the base known as Camp Simba in Manda Bay is the latest by the group in Kenya since Nairobi sent troops across the border in 2011.
Kenya’s army spokesman Colonel Paul Njuguna said in a statement that at 5:30am ‘an attempt was made to breach security at Manda Air Strip’. “The attempted breach was successfully repulsed. Four terrorists bodies have so far been found. The airstrip is safe. Arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip.”
He said the fire had been brought under control ‘and standard security procedures are now on-going’. Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia also confirmed there had been an attack and said the militants ‘have been repulsed’. “We are not sure if there are still remnants within,” he said.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying it had ‘successfully stormed the heavily fortified military base and have now taken effective control of part of the base’. The group said there had been both Kenyan and American casualties, however this could not be immediately verified.
Al-Shabaab said the attack was part of its ‘Al-Quds (Jerusalem) shall never be Judaized’ campaign — a term it first used during an attack on the upscale Dusit hotel complex in Nairobi in January last year that left 21 people dead.
The Somali jihadists have staged several large-scale attacks inside Kenya, in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops into Somalia as well as to target foreign interests.
Despite years of costly efforts to fight Al-Shabaab, the group December 28 managed to detonate a vehicle packed with explosives in Mogadishu, killing 81 people.
The spate of attacks highlights the group’s resilience and capacity to inflict mass casualties at home and in the region, despite losing control of major urban areas in Somalia.
The Lamu region, close to the Somali border, has been plagued by attacks from Al-Shabaab, with frequent strikes along the frontier notably targeting security forces with roadside bombs.
In their November report, a UN panel of experts on Somalia noted an ‘unprecedented number’ of homemade bombs and other attacks across the Kenya-Somalia border in June and July last year.
Thursday at least three people were killed when suspected Shabaab gunmen ambushed a bus travelling in the area.
According to the Institute for Security Studies, the United States has 34 known military bases in Africa, from where it conducts ‘drone operations, training, military exercises, direct action and humanitarian activities’.
US military strikes in Somalia surged after President Donald Trump declared the south of the country an ‘area of active hostilities’. In an April statement, US military command for Africa, AFRICOM, said it had killed more than 800 people in 110 strikes in Somalia since April 2017.
Later, a Kenyan police official says five suspects have been arrested after the al-Shabab extremist group early Sunday attacked a military base used by US and Kenyan troops.
Lamu county commissioner Irungu Macharia told The Associated Press the five suspects are being interrogated about the attack. The US Africa Command has confirmed the attack on Camp Simba in Lamu county. There is no immediate report of US or Kenyan deaths.
The al-Shabab extremist group attacked a military base used by U.S. and Kenyan troops in coastal Kenya early Sunday, with US aircraft and vehicles destroyed, Kenyan authorities said. Kenya’s military said the pre-dawn breach was repulsed and at least four attackers were killed.
A plume of black smoke rose above the base near the Somali border. Residents said a car bomb had exploded. The US Africa Command confirmed the attack on Camp Simba in Lamu county.
Spokesman Col. Christopher Karns called al-Shabab’s claims, including of inflicting severe casualties, “grossly exaggerated.” There was no report of US or Kenyan deaths. The camp has under 100 US personnel, according to Pentagon figures.
An internal Kenyan police report seen by The Associated Press said two fixed-wing aircraft, a US Cessna and a Kenyan one, were destroyed along with two US helicopters and multiple US vehicles at the Manda Bay military airstrip.
The report said explosions were heard at around 5:30 am from the direction of the airstrip. The scene, now secured, indicated that al-Shabab likely gained entry “to conduct targeted attacks,” the report said.
Al-Shabab’s claim of responsibility said the attack destroyed US equipment including aircraft and vehicles. It said fighters covertly “entered enemy lines” and that the attack was ongoing.
Kenya’s military, however, said that “the airstrip is safe.” It said that “arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip.” The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said the airstrip was closed for all operations.
Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida, is based in neighbouring Somalia and has launched a number of attacks in Kenya. The group has been the target of a growing number of US airstrikes during President Donald Trump’s administration.
The latest attack comes just over a week after an al-Shabab truck bomb in Somalia’s capital killed at least 79 people and US airstrikes killed seven al-Shabab fighters in response.
Last year al-Shabab attacked a US military base inside Somalia. The extremist group has carried out multiple attacks against Kenyan troops in the past in retaliation for Kenya sending troops to Somalia to fight it.
Al-Shabab also has attacked civilian targets in Kenya including buses, schools and shopping malls.
The early Sunday attack comes days after a US airstrike killed Iran’s top military commander and Iran vowed retaliation, but al-Shabab is a Sunni Muslim group and there is no sign of links to Shiite Iran or proxies.
Analyst Rashid Abdi in Twitter posts discussing the attack said it had nothing to do with the tensions in the Middle East but added that Kenyan security services have long been worried that Iran was trying to cultivate ties with al-Shabab.
“Avowedly Wahhabist Al-Shabaab not natural ally of Shia Iran, hostile, even. But if Kenyan claims true, AS attack may have been well-timed to signal to Iran it is open for tactical alliances,” he wrote, adding that “an AS that forges relations with Iran is nightmare scenario.”
When asked whether the US military was looking into any Iranian link to the attack, spokesman Karns said only that “al-Shabab, affiliated with al-Qaida, has their own agenda and have made clear their desire to attack US interests.”
The al-Shabab claim of responsibility said Sunday’s attack was part of its “Jerusalem will never be Judaized” campaign, a rarely made reference that also was used after al-Shabab’s deadly attack on a luxury mall complex in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in January 2019.
AFP/AP