Africa
Kenyan security on high alert after U.S. air strike in Somalia
By
May 5, 2008 - 4:17:31 PM

by Kenneth Odour, Nairobi
Garowe Online East Africa bureau

NAIROBI, Kenya May 5 (Garowe Online) - The Kenyan security system has been put on high alert following fears that Islamist guerrillas may target U.S. property in Nairobi following a U.S. air strike in Somalia last week that killed Adan Hashi Ayro, the rebel who is claimed to be the leader of the Al Shabaab guerrillas, sources said.

Security in and around Nairobi has been  tightened with the Kenyan anti-terrorism unit patrolling key U.S. installations in Nairobi fearing that they could be a probable target of the guerrillas who have vowed to revenge the killing of their leader.

While it is believed that the killing of Ayro would bolster the spirit of the Western-backed Somali interim government to stem the rebellion that has recently taken a dangerous shape, it would at the same infuriate the rebels who have vowed to wage a jihad to route Ethiopian troops out of Somalia.

The slain rebel leader is reported to have been a key figure in masterminding the ongoing 15-month insurgency in Somalia.

Al Shabaab recently welcomed the U.S. government’s move to include the group in its list of terrorist groups the American government has vowed to hunt down.

The group’s spokesperson, Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansur," said that the killing of their leader would not deter them from going on with the attacks saying their leader “trained many men who will continue with the job."

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has faulted Kenya’s anti-terrorism laws saying they were weak. In a global counterterrorism survey report released Wednesday, the U.S. government blamed Kenya for failing to enact stringent anti-terrorism legislation that would deal effectively with terrorists and money launderers.

The report further alleges that the Kenyan borders are porous, thus giving leeway for the potential movement of terrorists as well as small arms and other contraband.

Source: Garowe Online