Event Summary
Our latest “photo-imagery” intelligence reports about hundreds of Kenyans fighting as jihadists for the Al-Qaeda Branch in Somalia “Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement” (HSM), show that 3 Kenyan’s, aged between 14 and 18 years were captured alive by Puntland Defense Forces (PDF), (Puntland is a semi-autonomous state in Northern Somalia.
The three, Abdullahi Arbow Mohamed, Indris Muse Jirow, and Yusuf Qabiro Makoma were captured after PDF besieged approximately 250 Al-Shabaab fighters who landed in Puntalnd by boats and deployed into Nugaal valley area.
Slightly over 100 Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement jihadists/fighters were killed and 59 captured alive. Accounts of the captured jihadists point out 23 Kenyan Jihadists were killed in the Nugaal operation by PDF brings into perspective, hyped extrajudicial killings in Kenya.
Analysis
The eyes of the world fell on Puntland Defense Forces (PDF) and the Al-Qaeda Branch in Somalia “Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement” (HSM), not for the terrorists ability to use boats (a PR strategy to copy amphibious deployment & landings by convectional militaries) but for the children jihadists tasked to execute deadly attacks on civilians and conduct a bloody war against the PDF.
In the wake of these dramatic events, 26 Kenyan jihadists fighting for the Islamists group “Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement” (HSM) were exposed (3 captured alive and 23 killed, based on assessments and debriefs). This begs the question "how many more have been killed in Somalia?"
Our focus is on the 26 Kenyan jihadists besides hundreds more fighting in Somalia and the misconstrued narrative of extrajudicial killings in Kenya. These killings are blamed on the Kenyan military during the period of 2015-2016, and the Kenya Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, an intelligence led, counter-terrorism unit in the period of 2013 to date.
Our perspective on terrorism events is often very different from that of mainstream news organizations. The capture of the 3 Kenyans and the death of 23 others show that Kenya Counter-Terrorism operations are objective and hardly based on extrajudicial methodologies to preempt the threat of terrorism, rather the extrajudical killings narrative isa construct of both media and social constituents.
In several instances, we've noted online cells propagating information purporting government agencies tasked to combat terror engage in extrajudicial killings. Anti-regime voices and sympathetic voices embeded in media and in blogging online push these narratives without providing factual information about the incidents In fact, these events strengthens CVE and CT position that radicalization is highly concentrated in youths and mostly factored by fanaticism/blind following of violent ideologies.
There’s little empirical evidence linking these institutions to extrajudicial killings. The capture of Abdullahi Arbow Mohamed, Indris Muse Jirow, and Yusuf Qabiro Makoma strengthens this position. Suspects or operatives are likely to be murdered by Al-Shabaab Al-Shabaab intelligence operatives (Amniyaat) in the event their cover is blown and are likely to jeopardize the terror outfit network. Such outcomes have been highly concentrated in Gedo and Juba regions of Somalia (borderline provinces) and in Kenya’s frontier regions in North Eastern and Coast.
These events apparently should encourage parents whose children are missing to report to the police for help. Counter Terrorism and CVE programs largely depend on collaboration between public and government agencies. By reporting the missing children parents will help government agencies profile the missing and trace their whereabouts. With hundreds of Kenyan youths fighting as jihadists in Somalia, it’s highly likely the misconstrued narrative of extrajudicial killings will be demystified by identifying and naming these youths.
