Kenya Police Officer Shot Dead In Possible Islamist Revenge Attack

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A senior officer with Kenya’s counter-terrorism police unit got shot dead by gunmen on Thursday in the port city of Mombasa, in what police said could be a revenge for a crackdown on attempts by the Somali al Shabaab militant group to recruit young men. Reuters report:

Kenya is contributing troops to an African Union force in neighboring Somalia to push back the militants responsible for a string of attacks, including the killing of 67 people in the 2013 siege on Nairobi’s Westgate mall.

Robert Kitur, regional police chief for the Kenyan coast, said the officer, named as Ibrahim Mohammed, lived in the neighborhood where he was killed and may have been seen as marking out local youth for arrest by police.

“We have carried out crackdowns in Old Town and arrested several youths we believe are linked to extremism, so this killing may be a revenge tactic,” Kitur told Reuters. Al Shabaab activity in Somalia and Kenya has raised fears on a regional and international level. Washington announced last week it had killed Adnan Garaar, believed to be mastermind of the shopping mall attack, in a drone strike.