Kenyan police kill three suspects in al Shabaab raid
Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:10pm GMT
* Three suspected al Shabaab supporters killed
* Several police hurt, one dies of wounds
* Insecurity at the coast harming tourism
By Joseph Akwiri
MOMBASA, Kenya, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Police shot dead three suspected
supporters of the Somali militant group al Shabaab on Wednesday in a raid in
Kenya's turbulent coastal region, in which a police officer also died.
Kenya has suffered a series of grenade and gun attacks since it sent troops
into Somalia a year ago in pursuit of the insurgents it blames for
kidnapping security personnel and Western tourists from its territory.
Grenades, AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition were also confiscated during
the night-time operation in the run-down Likoni area during the operation,
Coast province police chief Aggrey Adoli said.
A local group campaigning for independence for the Coast region has added to
tensions ahead of a presidential and parliamentary election due in March,
the first since a disputed 2007 poll that sparked inter-ethnic violence
nationwide in which more than 1,200 people were killed and thousands more
displaced.
Adoli said the suspected al Shabaab supporters threw two grenades and opened
fire when an elite Nairobi police unit burst into their building, seriously
wounding four officers. One later died of his wounds in hospital.
About six people were also arrested but later released after it was found
they were neighbours caught up in the raid, he said.
"With the key suspects killed and weapons recovered, the operation (has
ended). It's still a big success in our war against terrorism," Adoli told
Reuters.
Mwagomba Juma, a youth leader who lives in the area, said heavy gunfire,
punctuated by at least two blasts, began in the early hours of the morning.
Dozens of police in bullet-proof vests and armed with automatic rifles
combed the neighbourhood, just south of the port city of Mombasa, as nervous
residents peered through their windows, witnesses said.
The instability has kept many foreign tourists away. The number of visitors
to Kenya was down by a fifth in the first eight months of this year, a heavy
blow to the tourism sector which is a main driver of east Africa's biggest
economy.
In Nairobi, Kenyan police arrested Mohammed Dor, a legislator and prominent
Muslim cleric from the coastal region, after he said he had no objection to
funding the separatist Muslim Mombasa Republican Council if they approached
him.
"He will be charged in a Kenyan court of law on Thursday for incitement to
violence," Ireri Kamwende, Nairobi's provincial criminal investigation
officer said.
Dor's arrest sparked fierce criticism of the police by Kenya's Muslim
leaders, who said their community was now living in "fear" of the police.
"We take this as a humiliation. It's not only an embarrassment, it is
disgraceful," Abdullahi Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum,
told reporters in Nairobi.
Kenyan authorities have intensified a crackdown on the MRC movement which is
seeking independence for the coastal region, a tourism and trade hub. The
MRC says the region has suffered decades of social and economic
marginalisation.
On Monday, MRC leader Omar Mwamnuadzi and 36 supporters were arrested.
Kenya's government said last week it had information that the MRC intended
to sow chaos during national school exams that began on Monday.
Though there are no known links between the MRC and al Shabaab, there is a
sizeable community of indigenous Somalis in Nairobi and along the coast
swelled by numerous Somali refugees fleeing conflict in their homeland.
They as well as Kenya's Muslims, who also make a large part of the coastal
population, are thought to harbour some sympathies with the Somali militant
group, as well as demands for secession for the coastal strip.
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Wed Oct 17 2012 - 18:36:03 EDT
