Highlights:
Kenya security Forces under the Operation Linda Boni in the coastal region on 7th November announced the arrest of al Shabaab militants in the vast Boni Forest among them two Tanzanians.
James Ole Serian the director of the operation confirmed the handover of the militants to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit for further investigation as he hailed the success of the operation so far.
The arrested suspects are reported to have been using the Boni Forest to gain entry into Somalia to join the embattled Jihadists.
Summary:
The Director of Operation Linda Boni James Ole Serian on November 7th 2015 announced the arrest of several al Shabaab suspects among them two Tanzanians in the Boni Forest.
The arrested suspects were handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU for further investigation. They were reported to have been using the Boni Forest to gain access into Somalia to join the embattled Jihadi group.
Ole Serian hailed the efforts of the forces in ensuring that Boni Enclave was free of the Al Shabaab within the stipulated time frame. He further pointed the clearing of 5 major hideouts used by the militants from where they lived with their families and plotted attacks mainly at the Kenyan coast.
The security forces in the region have set up nine new security camps that secure the expansive forest and are under the KDF, paramilitary police and other security agencies.
300-man Jeysh Ayman- an al Shabaab cell operating from the Boni Forest have since fled to Somalia and other surrendered to the government following the crackdown. Jeysh Ayman has in the past terrorized the residents of the Kenyan coast as they conducted attacks and recruited Kenyans for the al Shabaab.
The Operation Linda Boni has ,not only improved the state of security in the Boni Enclave but has also yielded security along the entire coastal strip evidenced by the lift of travel advisories by countries like the USA and UK.
Additionally, the entire operation has raised general public vigilance and public participation in the state of security, the willingness to report any suspicious people or occurrence has increased and therefore generally improving the security.
