Army Preempts Massive Al Shabaab Mpeketoni Memorial‬ Attack in Lamu County

Event Summary: 14th June 2015, 0500HRS E.A.T, Lamu County of Kenya

1. 0430HRS EAT; Kenya Defense Forces based in Lamu County were alerted from HQ by the Directorate of Military Intelligence about intelligence gathered by the National Intelligence Service on massive terror attacks targeting civilians in Lamu County before or during the Mpeketoni Memorial days.
2. 0500HRS EAT; 100 elements of the Somali based Islamists Harakat Al Shabaab al Mujahideen were intercepted by Kenya Army troops at Kiunga and an operation was conducted to preempt a massive terror attack against civillians in Lamu County.
3. 12 terrorists were killed by army troops during the raid.
4. At 5.30am, small group of the terrorists which had been dispatched by the main group launched attacks on several areas of Lamu County namely, Mangai Village in Basusba, Kiunga village,  Mangai Secondary School dormitory, and Manga Health Center.
5. The Mangai School dormitory was burnt, at Manga Health Center, the building was torched, medicine stolen, and 2 cars and motorcycles burnt.
6. 12 Al Shabaab militants were killed in Kiunga by Kenya Defense Forces Personnel as the terrorists attempted to deploy to Mpeketoni and other areas of Lamu County to attack villages and pillage towns.
7. 2 Army officers from the infantry killed during the operation against the terrorists and 2 were wounded but are in stable condition. KDF ground and air operations going on in the area.
8. An assortment of weapons including rocket propelled grenades, Soviet Era Kalashnikov, and ammunition have been captured at Baure area where the main terrorists camp had been set.
9. No civilian is reported to have been killed in the attacks which were supposed to reignite memories of 2014 Mpeketoni attacks where 60 people were killed.
10. Mpeketoni Memorial event was the target of the terror attack which was effectively preempted.

Event Analysis

Copying Boko-Haram morning raids on Maiduguri villages in Nigeria, Al Shabaab hoped to make headlines but failed after robust intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence by the Kenyan security services.

Intelligence analysts report Al Shabaab had launched the attacks inside the villages in an attempt to instill fear and cause the villagers to disperse into the forests.

The strategy involved sending dozens of fighters to attack villages and towns besides pillage them as the main group of 100 militants would attack fleeing villagers and cut them off in the bushes.

Local youths who support the terror group were involved in these attacks. These youths provide logistical and tactical advice to the terrorists groups before and during the attacks.

If the Al Shabaab Mpeketoni Memorial terror attack succeeded, over 500 villagers would have been slaughtered inside the forests.

The terrorists would have filmed the killings in the early morning hours.

The Kenya Army was able to cut off the main terror group from the pockets of bandits tasked to scare villagers out of their homes into the bush thus effectively preempting what would have been the worst massacre of innocent Kenyans by terrorists.