Tuesday, December 16, 2014
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has called on Kenya to massively invest in intelligence gathering to thwart off threats from Somali militants, 'al-Shabaab'.
Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya Shamsudin Ahmed said Kenya, which has suffered increased terrorist attacks in recent months, should also develop closer working relations with members of the public to successfully defeat the militants.
"Terrorism cannot be defeated by the police and defense forces alone.
"It requires the support of all citizens irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations," he said in Nairobi during celebrations to mark the day Ethiopia promulgated its constitution.
"We have been fighting 'al-Shabaab' for a long time and we started putting in place measures to protect our country a long time ago.
"We organized our people to work together with the security and intelligence arms of the government without any friction," Ahmed added.
He said Kenyans must work together if Nairobi was to win the war against global terrorism which, he said, requires concerted efforts.
"People are very vigilant in Ethiopia, and we urge Kenyans to adopt similar strategies.
'al-Shabaab' cannot cross our borders to commit attacks without being noticed because the military, intelligence and the people are working very closely together," Ahmed said.
He said the Somali militant’s mission was to win by dividing people based on religion and other lines by killing innocent civilians.
The envoy’s remarks follow two attacks on non Muslims in Mandera County, which borders Somalia, for which 'al-Shabaab' claimed responsibility for killing 64 people in the past month.
Both Ethiopia and Kenya have forces in Somalia fighting the militants who have closed ground considerably. However, 'al-Shabaab' have concentrated their attacks in Kenya leading to hundreds of people losing their lives and scores injured.
Ethiopia, on the other hand, has not witnessed any major incident of terror attack as witnessed in Kenya, although Addis Ababa also shares a porous border with Somalia, including those areas where 'al-Shabaab' is active.
Ahmed said both Nairobi and Addis Ababa should unite, and protect themselves from increased terror threats that the whole Horn of Africa region faces.
"The threat of terrorism and radicalization cannot be fought by government alone.
"Terrorism cannot be defeated by the police and defense forces alone.
"It requires the support of all citizens irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations," he said, adding that his country succeeded in the war against global terrorism by applying intelligence and developing close working relations with the people.
Kenya has faced increased attacks targeting civilians since October 2011, when its troops entered Somalia in the context of military operations against 'al-Shabaab'.
The response of the Kenyan security forces to these attacks has been to conduct operations that have resulted in numerous human rights violations in Nairobi, on the coast, and in northern region bordering Somalia.
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