Sunday, September 22, 2013
Kenyan authorities have intensified security across
the country, especially along its borders with Somalia, as the security
operation to rescue the last batch of hostages entered the second day on
Sunday.
Police commanders in the country's major cities and towns confirmed
Sunday that security agencies have sealed off border points and all
entry points amid the hostage standoff at the popular Westgate shopping
mall since Saturday in the capital Nairobi of the East African country.
In the coastal city of Mombasa, authorities said security around the
tourism resort city and its environs have been placed on a high alert.
"Security is very tight. Even though I am in Nairobi for official
duties, I have issued instructions to my officers to ensure that all is
well in Mombasa and its environs," Mombasa Police Commander Joseph Kitur
told Xinhua by telephone on Sunday.
He said the police officers have stepped up patrols to ensure peace
and calm prevail in all the six districts, especially areas bordering
Somalia.
The Indian Ocean port city, the capital Nairobi and the northern
region have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops
into Somalia in October 2011 to try to pursue Al- Shabaab insurgents
blamed for a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism.
The East African nation's coastal towns are the backbone of the
country's thriving tourism industry, which has been hit by the fear of
terror attacks and the kidnapping of foreigners by Somali pirates from
resorts near the border with Somalia.
Kenya's tourism has suffered a decline in tourist arrivals since
September 2011, when the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab carried out
the kidnappings of tourists in the Lamu archipelago and the kidnapping
of the Spanish volunteers.
"Security patrols will continue until we are assured that all
everything is fine. All districts are under surveillance of security
agencies to ensure no attack of whatever magnitude takes place there,"
Kitur said.
Police and government officials now call the Westgate incident a
terror attack, in which 59 people have been confirmed dead, including
some close family members of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Police in the northern region, especially Garissa bordering Somalia,
say they have also intensified security on high value targets in the
town.
Speaking to Xinhua on phone Garissa County Police Commander Charles
Kinyua said security had been beefed up in all the 36 churches in the
township.
He also said the Tana bridge which links the region with the rest of
the county was also been manned by paramilitary personnel round the
clock.
"We have also put on high alert all our security agencies along the
1,200 km Kenya Somalia border with the Rapid Deployment Units at Amuma,
Liboi and Holugho who are ready to mobilize when need be, " said Kinyua.
Kinyua also said they were liaising with national security
intelligence service and military intelligence to try and snuff out any
would be threats.
He assured residents in the border country that security agencies were on top of things and they should not be worried.
Garissa has been hit by a string of Al-Shabaab attacks with the major
incident happening on the July 1 in 2012, when 40 worshippers were
killed in the AIC church.