PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA GSU walking past a van set on fire in Majengo area
in Mombasa after angry youths went in protest following the death of
fiery Islamic preacher Sheikh Aboud Rogo in this picture taken on August
28, 2012. The preacher was gunned down by unknown gunmen along
Mombasa-Malindi highway at Bamburi.
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Al-Shabaab militants are coming to Kenya to set up new terror networks, a United Nations report says.
The report by Monitoring Group on Somalia and
Eritrea links them to Al-Hijra— an organisation it says changed name
from Muslim Youth Centre (MYC).
MYC was associated with slain Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo who was shot dead in Mombasa in August last year.
“Al-Hijra is striving to regain the initiative, in
part through its fighters in Somalia returning to conduct new and more
complex operations, and through strengthening its ties to other groups
in the region,” the report dated July 12 says.
This is the document that also faults Kenya
Defence Forces’ Operation Linda Nchi in Somalia, accusing the troops of
allowing illegal export of charcoal. Kenya has denied the claims.
It explains that extremists in Kenya are seeking
to form new local networks because the military operations in Somalia
have weakened Al-Shabaab.
Besides Sheikh Rogo’s death, active Al-Hijra
members have disappeared, according to the report. “Al-Hijra members
were plagued by unexplained killings, disappearances, continuous “catch
and release” arrest raids and operational disruptions under the
“Al-Shabaab/East Africa Al-Qaeda Disruption Initiative,” it says.
The report names Sylvester Opiyo a.k.a. Musa Osodo, Jeremiah Onyango Okumu and Steven Mwanzia Osaka.