15 Dead in Second Day Of Attacks In Kenya Are Not Terrorist Events Says President

Scene From Poromoko Tuesday. Courtesy of CapitalNews

By SaharaReporters, New York

The second set of attacks in yet another coastal village in Kenya are not a part of a continued Al Shabab campaign, according to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Kenyan president addressed his nation less than 24 hours after a series of deadly assaults had occurred in the coastal city of Mpeketoni.
On Tuesday, Kenyetta attributed the attacks, which occurred near the towns of Mombasa, and Poromoko, along the Kenyan coast, to be the work of what he called “local political networks,” rather than the work of Al Shabab.
Yet, there are those who differ with the president’s assessment of the most recent attacks that have left more than a dozen dead.
David Kimayo, is Kenya’s police inspector general, he said to reporters that the latest attack took place Monday night in Majembeni, which is near Mpeketoni, the location of the first attack. “Nine people lost their lives,” he said. “One suspect has been arrested.” The Kenyan media and other government officials report that 15 people had been killed.
Some political analysts believe the president may be playing word games in shifting the public’s attention away from Al Shabab, to that of local criminals.  Like Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, Kenyetta has come under fire from local officials and some in the public who believe that his administration is inept at protecting them from a what is essentially a foreign-based force. Yet, like the Boko Haram in Nigeria’s Borno State, the Al Shabab is known to move freely along the porous border region Kenya shares with nearby Somalia. Since 2011, Al Shabab has expanded its area of operation in an ever-widening region inside Kenya, a development that has many Kenyans concerned.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, said that U.S. officials had passed on their “condolences” to the families of the dead in this latest attack. “We remain in ongoing discussions with Kenyan officials (in regards to the activities of the Al Shabab,)” Psaki had said. But, at this point there are no new aid packages on tap for the Kenyans following these two latest events in the country she added.
Restrictions in movement have been issued to U.S. government personnel operating in Kenya, with travel warnings also being issued to American tourists in the region, Psaki said.  
The BBC is reporting that at least 12 women were abducted in the latest attack, and that the death toll from the back-to-back, but separate attacks, now stands at 49. Police both in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, and locally, have not confirmed the BBC claim of abductions and no group has so far claimed responsibility.