Kenya: Suspected Al-Shabaab attack in Lamu county August 18

Event

Suspected Al-Shabaab militants reportedly beheaded three people and set fire to houses in an attack on the village of Maleli (Lamu county) overnight August 17-18, before retreating into the nearby forest.

These kinds of attacks have been relatively rare in Kenya; however, in July, suspected Al-Shabaab militants beheaded nine people in another village in Lamu county.

Context

Al-Shabaab regularly carries out attacks near the porous border with Somalia where the group is based, as well as in coastal areas popular with tourists and the capital Nairobi. The group has stepped up its activity along the Kenyan-Somali border region in recent months.

Al-Shabaab has been effectively at war with the Kenyan government since October 211 when Kenyan forces engaged in the international fight against the terrorist group. The militant group, which seeks to topple Somalia's government and impose its own harsh interpretation of Sharia law, says it will continue to carry out attacks in Kenya until Nairobi withdraws its troops from the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Advice

Individuals in Kenya are advised to report any suspicious objects or behavior to the relevant authorities and to be particularly cautious when visiting sites deemed particularly likely to be targeted in an attack (government buildings, places of worship, tourist sites, etc.). Due to these and other security concerns, many Western governments advise against travel to a number of regions in the country, including areas bordering Somalia (parts of Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu counties), Ethiopia, and South Sudan, as well as nonessential travel to the city of Mombasa. Several Nairobi neighborhoods, including Eastleigh and Pangani, are also best avoided.