Three Americans killed in al Shabaab militant attack on base in Kenya

[webfact]

Three Americans killed in al Shabaab militant attack on base in Kenya

 

An image distributed by al Shabaab after the attack on a military base in Kenya shows a Somalia's al Shabaab militant holding the group's flag next to a burning aircraft, said to be at the Manda Bay Airfield in Manda, Lamu, Kenya January 5, 2020. Al-Shabaab/Handout via REUTERS

 

NAIROBI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Americans - one U.S. military servicemember and two contractors - were killed by Somalia's al Shabaab militant group during an attack on Sunday on a military base in Kenya used by both U.S. and Kenyan forces, the U.S. military said.

 

The military's Africa Command confirmed the deaths and said two Americans who work for the U.S. Department of Defense were also wounded in the attack on the Manda Bay Airfield in Lamu county, close to the Somali border.

 

"The wounded Americans are currently in stable condition and being evacuated," the U.S. military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement.

 

The attack presents another crisis for Washington just as the Pentagon grapples with a rapidly escalating standoff with Iran following a Friday U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

 

Tehran and Washington have traded threats and counter-threats following the strike, stoking fears of open conflict.

 

The assault by al Shabaab, which has been fighting for more than a decade to overthrow the Somali government and impose strict Islamic law, began before dawn and lasted around four hours, witnesses and military sources told Reuters.

 

A Kenyan police report seen by Reuters said the Islamist militants destroyed two planes, two U.S. helicopters and multiple American military vehicles during their assault.

 

The Kenyan military said five militants had been killed in the attack. There were no immediate reports of Kenyan casualties.

 

In a statement earlier on Sunday, al Shabaab claimed it had destroyed seven aircraft and three military vehicles, without providing other details. It also published pictures of masked gunmen standing next to an aircraft in flames.

 

Major Karl Wiest from AFRICOM told Reuters earlier on Sunday that fewer than 150 U.S. personnel were at the base, where they provide training and counterterrorism support to East African forces.

 

"Initial reports reflect damage to infrastructure and equipment. An accountability of personnel assessment is underway," AFRICOM said in a press release.

 

Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Paul Njuguna said the base had been secured.

 

"This morning at around 5:30 am an attempt was made to breach security at Manda Air Strip. The attempted breach was successfully repulsed," he said in a statement.

 

"Arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip. The fire has been put under control."

 

In the operation to repulse the attack, at least five militants were killed and weapons including four AK47 rifles were seized, Njuguna said.

 

There was no indication the militants had managed to enter the base. The airfield is separate to another on Manda Island used by commercial flights to Lamu.

 

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 after a spate of cross-border attacks and kidnappings. They were later absorbed into an African Union peacekeeping force, now 21,000-strong, which supports the shaky, Western-backed Somali government.

 

EXPLOSION IN THE DARK

Independent investigator Benjamin Strick, who analyses satellite imagery for open-source investigation websites such as Bellingcat, said the photos of gunmen next to a burning plane published by al Shabaab matched satellite images of buildings and a distinctive aircraft apron adjacent to the base but outside its perimeter.

 

Residents on nearby Lamu Island, a haven for wealthy tourists and visiting European royalty, said a loud explosion jolted them awake before 4 a.m.

 

Abdalla Barghash said he later saw a large dark plume of smoke rising from the Manda Bay mainland, where the airstrip and base are located.

 

Lamu county, which is far more impoverished than the island, is frequently targeted by al Shabaab with roadside bombs and ambushes on travellers or attacks on isolated villages.

 

The insurgents killed three passengers when they attacked a bus in the county on Thursday.

 

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Joseph Akwiri in Nairobi and Phil Stewart in Washington; Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo, Feisal Omar and Katharine Houreld; Writing by Katharine Houreld, Elias Biryabarema and Phil Stewart; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-06

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The insurgents killed three passengers when they attacked a bus in the county on Thursday.

Ah, nothing more heroically muslim and get you in good favour with fictional Allah as attacking a helpless bus.

 

If Allah is real, I guess I am in big trouble for my hatred of this religion

[IAMHERE]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Ah, nothing more heroically muslim and get you in good favour with fictional Allah as attacking a helpless bus.

 

If Allah is real, I guess I am in big trouble for my hatred of this religion

Mostly I'm afraid he'll make me a perpetual virgin, know what I'm saying?

[tifino]

 the counter terrorism training doesn't seem to be working...

[Eric Loh]

I am surprised that Pompeo didn’t see this imminent threat. 

[The Deerhunter]

13 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Mostly I'm afraid he'll make me a perpetual virgin, know what I'm saying?

Quite!!!

[metisdead]

A post using an offensive trolling representation of Trump supporters has been removed. 

[The Deerhunter]

I'm afraid Alah will make me a goat!

 

[sammieuk1]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Ah, nothing more heroically muslim and get you in good favour with fictional Allah as attacking a helpless bus.

 

If Allah is real, I guess I am in big trouble for my hatred of this religion

Your fatwa's in the post special delivery ????

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Residents on nearby Lamu Island, a haven for wealthy tourists and visiting European royalty, said a loud explosion jolted them awake before 4 a.m.

 

Hmm... Really, it doesn't sound like a place wealthy tourists and/or European royalty should be wanting to hang out!  Thailand looks a fare bit better by comparison.

 

[Calach]

Not that it's related but parading in celebration of an Iranian leader's "termination" supposed to spare many American lives to get 3 Americans killed by a Sunni militia 2 days later... karma works in ironic ways.

[Happy Grumpy]

That's a shame.

 

Can't the small country on the other side of the globe, be left alone to police the World with their military in every corner of it, in peace?? 

[JingerBen]

1 hour ago, harada said:

It's too far away from Israel for Pompeo or Trump to be interested.

Don't be too sure about that.

Somalia and the region has been the gift-that-keeps-on-giving for the US military and defense contractors since the early 1990s.

 

[URMySunshine]

These nutjobs though are from the ISIS / Saudi side of Islam not the Iranians and would hate the Iranians as heretics more than they hate the Americans. 

 

 

[Caps]

You reap what you sow sounds apt 

[Eric Loh]

38 minutes ago, URMySunshine said:

These nutjobs though are from the ISIS / Saudi side of Islam not the Iranians and would hate the Iranians as heretics more than they hate the Americans. 

 

 

They waged jihad against enemies of Islam aka USA and not on Iranian. Common cause. 

[Andrew65]

4 hours ago, spiekerjozef said:

Another option for Trump, if Iran doesn't respond then he can always start a war in Kenya.

He's talking about bombing cultural sites in Iran, ancient places, rather like ISIS did at Palmyra, Syria.

Not sure how Boris would respond if Donald made good on that, all that stuff is what Boris loves?! 

[Traubert]

28 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

He's talking about bombing cultural sites in Iran, ancient places, rather like ISIS did at Palmyra, Syria.

Not sure how Boris would respond if Donald made good on that, all that stuff is what Boris loves?! 

Boris will do as he's bloody well told. With an added tug of the forelock and quick lick of the boots.

 

Spineless wimp.

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Boris will do as he's bloody well told. With an added tug of the forelock and quick lick of the boots.

 

Spineless wimp.

Yes, you're probably right about Boris, plus there's all that money that the Americans have, would have him salivating!!????

One thing though, ISIS were portrayed as barbaric savages for destroying parts of Palmyra, I suppose things would be different if our side did it.

I was in Syria many years ago, they HAD done a great job of preserving a lot of their ancient stuff.

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and replies have been removed. 

[CG1 Blue]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

The assault by al Shabaab, which has been fighting for more than a decade to overthrow the Somali government and impose strict Islamic law

More positive PR for the religion of peace...

[Traubert]

2 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Yes, you're probably right about Boris, plus there's all that money that the Americans have, would have him salivating!!????

One thing though, ISIS were portrayed as barbaric savages for destroying parts of Palmyra, I suppose things would be different if our side did it.

I was in Syria many years ago, they HAD done a great job of preserving a lot of their ancient stuff.

Money that Americans print. They don't actually have any, but the premise is the same.

[metisdead]

A post using trolling memes has been reported and removed.