Wednesday May 15, 2019
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Wednesday urged citizens to be extra vigilant during the month of Ramadan.
Police spokesman Charles Owino said security will be beefed up to
secure mosques for Muslims to conduct their prayers peacefully and to
avert possible al-Shabab attacks on churches.
"For a peaceful Ramadan and the subsequent Eid festivities, security
agencies have deployed officers around areas of interest within our
cities and areas near the Kenya-Somalia border," Owino said in a
statement issued in Nairobi.
The statement came as the Muslim community in Kenya observe the holy month of Ramadan.
More police officers have been deployed for enhanced patrols, Owino
said, urging Kenyans to exercise a high degree of vigilance and to
report any suspicious persons or activities to authorities.
Terror attacks have previously been witnessed in the country during Ramadan, he said.
During Ramadan in June 2014, 150 people were killed when al-Shabab
militants infiltrated Kenya and attacked coastal villages in Lamu and
Tana River counties.
Al-Qaida-allied al-Shabab has vowed to attack Kenya after the east
African nation made a cross-border incursion into Somalia in 2011 to
flush out insurgents it blamed for kidnappings of tourists.