At least 20 innocent lives have been lost as a result of terror attacks that have been carried out in the last two months by suspected Al-Shabaab militants. An analysis by Sunday Nation shows that the terror group has this year alone launched 16 attacks which all targeted North Eastern and Coast regions. The attacks happened in Garissa, Mandera, Wajir and Lamu counties between January and February even as the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group ramped up their campaigns in the country.
EIGHT ATTACKS
In the attacks, Garissa county suffered the most as it recorded eight attacks that resulted in the deaths of ten people including teachers, pupils and security officers. Of the eight attacks in Garissa, six happened in Ijara sub-county, which has this year appeared to be the hotbed of the attacks in the northern region. Two others happened in Daadab sub-county, where two schools were hit and teachers and pupils died. In Lamu county, four attacks were reported that resulted in the deaths of seven people, among them three US servicemen who died during the 5 January attack at their Manda Bay military base. A resident was also killed. Others killed in Lamu were three passengers who were in a bus that was travelling from Mombasa on 2 January. In Mandera, where three attacks happened, three passengers were killed after their bus was sprayed with bullets on February 19 as it headed to Nairobi. In Wajir, only one attack happened with no casualty reported.
15 INJURED
Meanwhile, in the period under review, 15 people were injured and properties including three communication masts, two schools and at least eight houses destroyed. All the houses that were destroyed by the militants, the Sunday Nation learnt, belonged to the National Police Reservists (NPR) based in Garissa. The increase in attacks early this year has set a worrying trend compared to last year, where between January and February only three attacks were reported. In 2019, the three attacks were all reported to have happened in January with the major one being the Dusit D2 attack which claimed the same number of deaths as reported this year. In February last year, no attack was reported compared to this year where nine attacks have been reported. By the end of last year, however, 83 lives had been lost, according to a report by the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies (CHRIPS).
56 FATALITIES
The data by CHRIPS Terror Attacks and Arrests Observatory report, reveals that the deaths reported last year increased by 20 per cent from the 56 fatalities which occurred in 2018. The report further shows that the highest number of attacks in 2019 took place in Mandera and Wajir where nine attacks were reported in each county. In last year’s report, Garissa came third with eight attacks being recorded. The education sector has suffered the most in the region following the attacks that have resulted in a decision by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to transfer all 2 340 non-local teachers over what it has termed as safety concerns. The move has since resulted in an uproar from north eastern region leaders who have faulted the TSC over its decision. The matter is still yet to be settled even as Education CS George Magoha proposes that students from the region should be enrolled in teaching colleges so that they can teach in the region……
