Militiamen from the Somali Islamist Shebab group launched an attack Sunday against a military base operated by American and Kenyan forces in Lamu (northern Kenya), near the Somali border, according to a local Kenyan official. "There was an attack but it was repelled," said official Irungu Macharia. The attack was claimed by the shebab who are affiliated with Al-Qaeda. This attack was carried out before dawn against the base known as Camp Simba, and "a security operation is underway", without however specifying whether there were victims.
The shebab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying they had "successfully stormed the heavily fortified military base and have now taken effective control of part of the base." The group said there were Kenyan and American casualties, but the claims could not be confirmed immediately.
A deadly attack on Saturday
The group added that the attack was part of its campaign "Al-Quds (Jerusalem) will never be Judaized" - a term it used for the first time in an attack on the complex Upscale hotelier Dusit in Nairobi in January 2019, which killed 21 people. The shebab carried out several large-scale attacks inside Kenya, claiming that it was reprisals for sending Kenyan troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the group, as well as targeting foreign interests.
Despite costly international efforts to combat them, the Shebab carried out one of the deadliest attacks of the decade in Somalia on Saturday, killing 81 people in a car bomb explosion in Mogadishu. Attacks by the Shebab show their ability to inflict significant damage in Somalia and the region, despite the loss of control of the main urban areas of Somalia.
According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the United States has 34 known military bases in Africa, from where it conducts "operations with drones" but also organizes "training, military exercises" and " humanitarian activities ”.
World
Shebab claims attack in Mogadishu, Somalia
World
At least 79 dead in an attack in Mogadishu
- Islamist
- Shebab
- United States
- Military
- Terrorist attack
- Kenya
- World