Thursday, October 27, 2016
Mortuary attendants and Kenya Red Cross staff prepare to receive the bodies of those killed during the terrorist attack at the Bisharo guest house in Mandera /REUTERS
Somalia’s al Shabaab militants on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the Mandera terrorist murders, hours after the Tuesday raid.
The militants relayed their message through Andalus radio station, which is associated with them.
The gunmen used grenades and explosives to break into Bisharo guest house and stormed in with guns. They killed 12 people and seriously injured six others.
Northeastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh yesterday ruled out direct involvement of al Shabaab. He said the border is sealed tight.
However, Saleh told reporters preliminary investigations show al Shabaab did radicalise young criminal gangs that carried out the attack in Mandera town.
He said they used four IEDs to blow up a section of the hotel at 3am. Saleh said following the last attack two weeks ago, the border with Somalia has remained closed from dawn to dusk. There is no way the attackers could have crossed into the country from Somalia, he said.
Saleh said Mandera residents are not cooperating with security agents and giving “actionable intelligence” that will lead to arrests.
“Inside elements radicalised by al Shabaab are behind the attacks,” he said.