May 2015 Garissa ambush
On 26 May 2015, Kenyan police were ambushed by Al-Shabaab in Garissa County, which borders with Somalia.[1][2][3]
The attack comes amid intensifying Islamist militancy in the county, which was the scene of the Garissa University College attack in April 2015.
Background
[edit]Since late 2011, Kenya has seen an upsurge in violent terrorist attacks. Kenyan government officials asserted that many of the murders and blasts were carried out by Al-Shabaab in retaliation for Operation Linda Nchi, a coordinated military mission between the Somali military and Kenyan military that began in October 2011, when troops from Kenya crossed the border into the conflict zones of southern Somalia. The Kenyan government has deployed its forces under the wider African Union Mission to Somalia,[4] and announced in March 2012 that it would be sending 5,000 troops to join the coalition.[4]
Since the Operation Linda Nchi began, Al-Shabaab vowed retaliation against the Kenyan authorities. At the militant group's urging,[5] a significant and increasing number of terrorist attacks in Kenya have since been carried out by local Kenyans, many of whom are recent converts to Islam.[6] Estimates in 2014 placed the figure of Kenyan fighters at around 25% of Al-Shabaab's total forces.[7][8]
By mid-2014, the cumulative attacks began affecting Kenya's tourism industry, as Western nations issued travel warnings to their citizens.[9]
See also
[edit]- 2010 Kenya–Al-Shabaab border clash
- 2011–14 terrorist attacks in Kenya
- Garissa University College attack
- Terrorism in Kenya
- Operation Indian Ocean
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
References
[edit]- ^ "Kenyan police clash with al-Shabab in Garissa County". BBC News. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ "Al-Shabab storms Kenyan village near Garissa". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ "Kenya: Garissa Policemen Survive Al-Shabaab Ambush in Yumbis". International Business Times. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ a b Kenya agrees to join AMISOM
- ^ "Al-Shabaab to retaliate in Kenya with "huge blasts"". Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
- ^ Kenya: A new breed of terrorist is born [dead link]
- ^ "Funding jihad: Al-Shabab cash lures in young Kenyans". BBC. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ "Special Report: In Africa, a militant group's growing appeal". Reuters. 30 May 2012.
- ^ Macharia, James (1 June 2014). "Bombings threaten Kenya growth goals, open new strains with wary West". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2014.