Osama's death puts Kenya on high alert

  1. Posted on Tuesday 3 May 2011 - 09:46
    Evans Wafula
    Image of Evans Wafula
    Evans Wafula, AfricaNews contributor in Nairobi, Kenya
    Kenya is on high alert fearing retaliatory attacks following the killing of al-Qaeda commander and founder Osama bin Laden. The much sought elusive master-mind of global terrorism was killed in a Monday night raid conducted by the elite US Navy Seal brigade inside a resort compound near Pakistan's capital, according to US officials.
    osama_bin_laden
    Kenya’s Prime Minster Raila Odinga held the attack terming it a ‘victory’ over evil. He told the BBC that the killing of bin Laden is a relief to Kenya’s who lost their loved one. “The killing of Osama bin Laden is a victory to victims and their families and to us as a nation since we have twice faced al-Qaeda related attacks,” said Raila.

    In 1998 almost simultaneous bomb blasts claimed by al-Qaeda killed more than 200 people at the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

    In another retaliatory attack after Kenya and the US declared war against the group, 15 people died in a suicide bombing at an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, blamed on al-Qaeda. On the same day, an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa escapes an attempted rocket attack.

    The killing of Osama bin Laden has also led to a high-level security alert in all government buildings and hotels.

    Police have intensified security and warned residents to be aware of suspicious people. This comes after the government published photos of a person they claim is a trained terrorist who had sneaked from Somali. It also follows a Somali-based Alshabab warning that it will carry out attacks against Kenya for its role in the current war in Somali.

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