Kenya beefs up security along Somali border amid terror threats

Kenyan authorities have beefed up security along the Somali border following attacks by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in the northeastern region earlier this week.

Northeastern Regional Coordinator, Mohamud Saleh, said on Wednesday that security had been heightened in major government installations, social gatherings and along the border with Somalia, following two attacks in Elwak, Mandera county and Hulugho, Garissa county respectively this week.

Kenya's intelligence reports say the Al-Shabaab Islamist group plans to carry out major attacks in Kenya during the month of Ramadan.

"Because we had enhanced our security, they (Al-Shabaab militants) were unable to penetrate some of their targets," Saleh told journalists in Garissa town.

Saleh said Al-Shabaab's major targets were social places, key government installations, police stations, police and military convoys in the northeastern region, adding the capital Nairobi was also their target.

The East African nation has previously witnessed terror attacks during the month of Ramadhan. Police have urged Kenyans to report any suspicious activities.

Saleh further disclosed the attacks had been planned by the Garissa University massacre mastermind, Mohamed Kuno, before the Al-Shabaab commander was killed in May by the Somali army in Bulo Gudud, Somalia.

He said that following the death of Kuno, the militants wanted to "prove that they have not been weekend by carrying out the attacks we saw in Elwak and Hulugho."

"We suspect they will keep on harassing us in the remaining of days of this Ramadhan period. We have however prepared ourselves for them and the remaining days are very crucial in our security surveillance," Saleh said.

On Monday, suspected Al-Shabaab militants ambushed a police vehicle in Elwak, killing five policemen. Hours after that, an ambulance hit an improvised explosive device planted along the road in Hulugho, leaving one person dead and three others wounded.

Al-Shabaab has carried out several bloody attacks in Kenya since Kenyan troops entered Somalia in 2011 to battle the militants. Endit