Uhuru fires warning at Al-Shabaab as policemen killed in attack

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya will not relent in its ruthless crackdown against criminal elements including terrorists, President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned.

The president's warning comes after it emerged that eight police officers were among the 11 people who were killed on Friday in Wajir by suspected Al-Shabaab militants.

Wajir County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara said the officers, who belong to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), were on their way back to work when the Medina bus was ambushed.

Also dead in the latest assault that saw the militants flagging down a Mandera-bound Medina bus before executing occupants, were two teachers and a doctor.

Through State House spokesperson Kanze Dena, Uhuru said security forces are pursuing the killers, adding that "the Government will not relent in its ruthless crackdown on criminal elements including suspected terrorists".

While condemning the incident, Uhuru insisted that "no efforts will be spared in neutralizing the threat by Al-Shabaab militants".

"The Head of State further sends a strong warning and reminder to misguided elements operating within and outside of our national borders and whose actions harm innocent Kenyans that no effort will be spared in neutralizing the threat," read Dena's statement.

Special Forces from KDF and Regiment Strike Force unit has been deployed in Wajir to help track down the killers. The team is also monitoring the porous Kenya-Somalia border.

Uhuru's warning comes a week after he vowed that KDF troops will remain in Somalia until "Al-Shabaab militants are fully crushed".

Opposition leader Raila Odinga termed the attack "cowardly" and urged security forces to bring to book those responsible for the attack.

Odinga tweeted: "I urge the security agencies to bring those responsible to book. We must stand strong against extremists and not let them divide us."

It's not the first time the Somalia-based militants are targeting a passenger bus. In 2014, at least 27 people, many of them teachers, were killed in Rhamu, Mandera.

Witnesses said the Al-Shabaab militants paraded the passengers into locals and non-locals before executing the 11 in cold blood.

The attack comes barely two months after a vehicle carrying Kenyan police officers ran over an IED, killing 11 officers on the spot.

Currently, Kenya is pushing to have Al-Shabaab blacklisted as a terrorist group under UN Resolution 1267, a move that has been opposed by the US and Somalia.

Kenya is part of the AMISOM forces in Somalia with over 4,000 troops taking part in the peacekeeping mission. Al-Shabaab was recently earmarked as a threat to security by the UN Panel of Experts.

GAROWE ONLINE