Following the apparent technical proficiency and meticulous planning that characterised the Friday, January 15, al-Shabaab attack on the KDF in Somalia’s El-Adde area, military intelligence officers are linking the attackers to the internationally notorious jihadist terror group ISIS.
It is believed that ISIS offered substantial technical and financial backing to the insurgents in the attack that inflicted heavy casualties on the Kenyan military, as admitted by the chief of KDF Gen. Samson Mwathethe, as well as put up hurdles that slowed the KDF response to the attack.
In December 2015, the inspector general of police, Joseph Boinnet, said that the reported splitting of al-Shabaab into two camps (ISIS supporters and Al-Qaeda supporters) posed a new threat to Kenya.
“The two groups may be attempting to demonstrate their capabilities through attacks. They are competing to spread an international jihadist agenda, which could be deadly if and when it happens. They are injured and I urge Kenyans to exercise vigilance all times,” Boinnet had said of the al-Shabaab split.The two groups are known as the Abu Zubair brigade (ISIS supporters usually based near the Mandera border to Kenya) and the Saleh Nabhan brigade (Al-Qaeda supporters usually based near the Boni Forest/Lamu border to Kenya).
Both are named after al-Shabaab commanders who died in combat, The Standard reported.
Gen. Mwathethe said on Thursday January 21 that military intelligence officers are linking the attackers of the El-Adde army camp to ISIS as the reported leader of the operation, Maalim Janow, who the KDF reported to have killed, was a known Abu Zubair member.
“Janow belonged to the Abu Zubair battalion of the terror group and was the head of operations in Bay and Bakool in Gedo region where the attack occurred. He was assigned leadership roles for the terror outfit in July 2012 and designated the head of operations, plotting and executing the offensive acts of the Al-Shabaab wing that is now reinforced by jihadist ISIS suicide bombers,” Mwathethe stated.In an apparent show of might, both al-Shabaab teams have in recent times launched attacks on Amisom bases in Leego, Janaale and now El-Adde, competing with each other.
In June 2015, the militants invaded and looted Amisom’s base at Leego, killing more than 50 Burundian soldiers.
In September 2015, the terrorists raided Amisom’s base at Janaale, killing 19 Ugandan soldiers and kidnapping others.
0 comments:
Post a Comment