Kenya warns against attacks after Al-Shabaab splits in two

Kenya’s police chief said on Thursday Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab has split into two groups competing for recruits, warning against attacks during the Christmas period.

Inspector-General of Kenyan Police, Joseph Boinnet, said Al-Shabaab had spit into two groups, with one still pledging allegiance to Al-Qaeda, the other to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

One faction of Al-Shabaab was in a rush to carry out attacks in the East African region, targeting crowded places like shopping malls, entertainment spots, restaurants, buses, airports, universities and places of worship, according to Boinnet.

“They are competing to spread an international jihadist agenda, which could be deadly if and when it happens,” he said.

He added the pro-ISIL faction was operating around Lafey area in Kenya’s Mandera county close to the border with Somalia while the pro-Al-Qaeda faction remained encamped within the Boni Forest in Kenya’s southern region.

Boinnet warned that although “some of the faction leaders and their supporters were injured”, they posed a serious threat to security.

Members of the pro-ISIL faction tried to hijack and attack a bus in El-Wak, Mandera on Monday.

The attack aborted after Muslim passengers in the bus shielded the Christians by refusing to be split and offered them Hijabs or face veils and headscarves — acts hailed by Boinnet as “heroic”.

Since the faction operating in the Boni Forest was recently spotted, a combined security team has been deployed there to hunt for the militants.

The two Al-Shabaab groups are said to be competing to demonstrate their thoroughness in order to win more support.