Police put Nairobi, Mombasa airports on high security alert

What you need to know:

The security alert was first made public through a leaked internal memo to airport managers by the KAA head of security, Eric Kiraithe.
Mr Kiraithe said the Islamist group Al-Shabaab planned to carry out suicide terrorist attacks on Kenyan airports in Nairobi and Mombasa and called for vigilance.
KAA acting managing director Yatich Kangugo termed the action “precautionary”, adding that the country’s airports and airstrips were not under imminent threat.

Kenya on Monday stepped up surveillance at its airports in the wake of reports that Somalia-based Al-Shabaab terrorist group planned to attack aviation facilities in Nairobi and Mombasa.

Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) acting managing director Yatich Kangugo termed the action “precautionary”, adding that the country’s airports and airstrips were not under imminent threat.

“We wish to inform the general public that the aviation industry is very sensitive to all security matters. We take proactive action on any intelligence information however frivolous it may seem,” Mr Kangugo said on Monday.

“KAA is aware of the prevailing global terrorism threat by among others Al-Shabaab who have issued threats against Kenya. We have consequently raised our operational threat category to high alert in conjunction with other national security organs who have increased vigilance to counter any potential threats.”

The security alert was first made public through a leaked internal memo to airport managers by the KAA head of security, Eric Kiraithe.

In the memo dated February 26, Mr Kiraithe said the Islamist group Al-Shabaab planned to carry out suicide terrorist attacks on Kenyan airports in Nairobi and Mombasa and called for vigilance.

“The attacks mainly target domestic flights and operatives posing as passengers intend to blow themselves up during landing. Consequently a team of eleven suicide bombers have undergone training within Somalia on airborne suicide missions in readiness for the attacks,” the KAA security boss said.

Mr Kiraithe named the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Moi International Airport Mombasa (MIA) and Nairobi’s Wilson Airport as possible targets.

Mr Kangugo Monday acknowledged the content of the leaked document but said no airport was under imminent threat.

“We therefore wish to assure our citizens and all airport users that KAA airports and designated airstrips are not under any imminent threat. I want to report that normal operations are ongoing,” he said.

The KAA chief’s comments came in the wake of increased violence by Al-Shaabab in Somalia. The militia group bombed a busy junction and a nearby restaurant in the town of Baidoa on Sunday, killing at least 30 people.

READ: Kenya buys Sh1bn pilotless aircraft in war on Al Shabaab

The Baidoa blasts came in the wake of a car bomb attack in the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, near a park and a hotel on Friday that killed 14 people.

Al-Shabaab said it was also behind a likely bomb blast that forced an Airbus A321 into an emergency landing early this month in Mogadishu. One man was killed in the February 2 incident aboard the Daallo Airlines plane.

Local authorities north of Mogadishu said the body of a man, believed to have been sucked out through a hole made by the blast in the fuselage, was found in their area.

“Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen carried out the airborne operation as a retribution for the crimes committed by the coalition of Western crusaders and their intelligence agencies against the Muslims of Somalia,” it said in an emailed statement to Reuters on February 13.

Kenya and several countries under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) are currently battling Islamist militants in the war-torn horn of Africa country.

The campaign to restore order in Somalia has, however, not been smooth amid budgetary shortfalls and slow response by some countries to contribute troops to the UN-backed Amisom.

The Africa Union (AU) at a weekend summit of troop and police contributing countries of the Amisom decried the European Union’s (EU) decision to reduce by 20 per cent financial support to Amison during the critical phase of the fight against Al-Shabaab.

“(The AU) decides to call upon the UN to utilise assessed contributions to bridge this financial gap either through the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), logistical support package or directly to the AU within the framework of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter and relevant constituent instruments, bearing in mind that Amisom is acting on behalf of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), whose primary responsibility is the promotion of international peace and security,” it said in a statement following the summit held in Djibouti.

The EU’s total yearly payments amount to about $200 million to support Amisom troops. Amisom soldiers receive a monthly allowance of $828 (Sh84,456) after their respective governments deduct a $200 (Sh20,400) administrative cost per soldier.