Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - At least three people have died and thirty injured: this is the toll of a series of terrorist attacks carried out yesterday, November 24, in Garissa, in the North Eastern Province in Kenya.
On November 6 in Garissa two other attacks were committed: one against a Pentecostal assembly, which had caused two deaths, one against a military camp, but failed due to the failure of the grenade.
These terrorist attacks are considered part of the Shebab somali’s strategy of retaliation, who intend to pay Kenya back for the military operation which has been launched in southern Somalia for weeks. Garissa is located one hundred kilometers from the border with Somalia and 70 km from Dadaab, where a complex of camps for Somali refugees fleeing famine and violence have been set up.
Kenyan troops officially entered into Somali territory to secure the border between the two Countries, after a series of kidnappings carried out by Somali bandits in Kenya. According to the authorities in Nairobi, the Kenyan air force and navy have imposed an air and sea blockade at the port of Kisimayo, the stronghold of the Shabab, who withdrew from the capital Mogadishu, where the government is situated, recognized by the international community, backed by an African military force. By blocking the port, the Kenyan military have taken away from the Shabab one of their most important sources of income: ship port taxes that berth and those on contraband goods destined to Kenya, in addition to charcoal, which is exported to the Middle East. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2011)
