Al-Shabab currently controls more than 60% of Mandera County in the North East region of Kenya, the governor of the region has revealed.
Mandera Mayor Mohamed Adan Khalif has asked the government to recruit and arm the local people to help fight Al-Shabab terrorist group. Khalif said the group is slowly gaining strength in the region and now controls more than half of the region’s territory along the border with Somalia.
”Al-Shabab is no longer a desperate group, because their activities in the region are increasing every day. I confirm that the militia controls a large area of North Eastern Kenya,” said Khalif.
Governor added that Al-Shabab now controls 60 percent of Mandera, and said that the only way to get rid of them is to arm the people to fight them.
“We need to recruit local people to remove them, otherwise we will not win the war with this terrorist group,” said the governor.
He blamed the worsening insecurity in the region as a result of poor coordination among the various security agencies in the region.
“The crime of Al-Shabab has spread. I will not be able to fulfill my election promises to the residents of my district because of insecurity. My government is unable to provide services outside the center because of the impassable roads, whose poor condition has greatly contributed to the insecurity,” said Khalif.
He said that the residents were so scared that they could not even speak.
“Some of them are afraid to share information about the presence of Al-Shabab because they always face bad consequences,” said the governor.
The governor called on the government to reopen the border with Somalia. He said that the insurgent groups are also collecting funds from the people living in the regions near the border.
“We should not surrender to Al-Shabab, nor should we delay reopening our borders, because if we do so, we will comply with their demands and they will continue to collect money from our people,” said Khalif.