The Tide Online
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The country’s top administrator in North eastern Joseph Maingi said they had sought dialogue to reclaim the equipment.
The militants stole firearms and a Land Cruiser from the police in the raid. ‘We cannot bomb them to demand they return the property. We are using local leaders to get back the equipment,” Maingi said.
He said Somali leaders had promised to return the vehicle and guns on Friday.
The developments came as Kenyan war planes and military helicopters flew over the border with Somalia on Tuesday.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, today that troops have been sent to enhance security along the common frontier.
‘We have reinforced security along the Kenya-Somali border,” Kiraithe said by telephone.
Locals said the militants who launched the raid in Dadajabula belonged to Somalia’s al Shabaab group.
Kenyan police in Dadajabula are holding suspects including two Britons of Somali extraction who entered Kenya illegally.
Police sources said one suspect freed in the raid could be linked to the November 2002 Kikambala bombing in which 12 people died.
The man, who wore a veil and was armed with powerful satellite phones, and two accomplices were believed to have come from Nairobi or Mombasa.
Anti-terror police said they were tying to establish claims that the men were from Tanzania.
Sources said the Somali gunmen who freed three foreigners detained earlier in the day by the police for being in the country illegally.
Security along the border with Somalia has long been a concern for Kenyan police.
There are worries that a new wave of refugees caused by intensified fighting in Somalia in recent months could allow militants into the country.
In June 2007, two Kenyan police officers were abducted and killed along the border with Somalia.
Insurgents have strengthened their presence in southern Somalia in recent weeks.
Source: The Tide, June 08, 2008