Kenyans five times more likely to be shot dead by police than by criminals
A report based on a human rights NGO report, which in places take one's breath away, but this is Africa:
Quote:
Of the 1,868 Kenyans who died from gunshot wounds between 2009 and 2013, 1,252 – or 67 per cent – were killed by a police officer. That proportion changed little during the five years the researchers studied.
For 63 per cent of those deaths, police failed to report details of the circumstances of the shooting. No reason was given as to why the officer opened fire in 68 per cent of cases.
The story wonders aloud what impact UK aid has had:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...criminals.html
Unpacking the Anatomy of the Mpeketoni Attacks in Kenya
Unpacking the Anatomy of the Mpeketoni Attacks in Kenya
Entry Excerpt:
--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Cattle rustling? Use artillery: the Kenyan way
Africa works in different ways. A detailed report and explanation for the inter-communal, heavily armed cattle rustling in the Northern Frontier District:http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news...m/-/index.html
Kenya: 148 people dead at Garissa University
The BBC today reported that:
Quote:
The attack on Garissa University, about 150km (90 miles) from the Somali border, was the deadliest by al-Shabab in Kenya.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32194722
It is noteworthy that the longer attack and siege at Westgate Mall, in Nairobi, September 2013, was far more accessible for the media and so attracted far greater external reporting.
The BCC and local media have been critical of the security forces response, citing the BBC:
Quote:
Kenya's government has denied accusations that its security forces were slow to respond to Thursday's assault on the university.Mr Kenyatta's spokesman Manoah Espisu told the BBC that the military was at the scene within minutes of the attack, and had helped save the lives of many students on campus.
Local media reported that it took special forces several hours to arrive at the university because of delays in their flight from the capital, Nairobi.
This local report explains why the Recce team, the primary urban SWAT, from the GSU (a police paramilitary unit), took so long to arrive, but note shortly after deployment their snipers shot dead four of the five attackers:http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Shame-o...y/-/index.html
The Guardian has a good, lengthy commentary by a Kenyan journalist, entitled 'Are the terrorists of al-Shabaab about to tear Kenya in two?':http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...baab-divisions
He highlights:
Quote:
The biggest danger, though, is that the two sides of Kenya will simply drift apart. The string of attacks by al-Shabaab has triggered the flight of dozens of non-Muslim professionals from the north-east. After a
massacre of bus passengers in November, the teachers’ union ordered members not to report to work after the Christmas holidays.
There is a main Kenya thread (in the Horn of Africa arena), into which this thread is likely to be merged:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...t=14771&page=8
Kenya is the weakest link in the fight against al-Shabaab
Another commentary on events by a Kenyan student living in the USA at the moment; the title suggests a wider viewpoint than Kenya 'Kenya: Five Things About Al-Shabaab and the Somalia Question':http://kenopalo.com/2015/04/03/kenya...alia-question/
Two Muslims, a Hindu, and two Christians. All Kenyans.
An update from FP on the Westgate attack:http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/20/...ck-al-shabab/?
Some new details, mainly on the individual experiences; the lack of an effective Kenyan state response is well known. I had missed this:
Quote:
Westgate is in the heart of a Kenyan-Indian part of the city, and the close-knit community there knew better than to rely on the authorities to send help. Instead, the call went out to the community’s own licensed gun holders, who were organized into self-appointed armed neighborhood watch units.
In the USA the role of 'first responders' is well known, in Kenya it was different:
Quote:
Instead, an ad hoc volunteer rescue mission had begun to take shape, comprising a motley crew of uniformed, plainclothes, and off-duty police and licensed civilian gun holders......two plainclothes armed officers: two Muslims, a Hindu, and two Christians. All Kenyans.
Nairobi DusitD2 hotel attacked by suspected militants
This was a temporary separate thread until merged on 29/1/2019 into the main thread (it had eights posts with 300 views). Might it turn into another Westgate Mall Charlie Foxtrot.
Quote:
Suspected militants have attacked a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi, killing a number of people.
Gunfire and blasts were heard at the compound in the Westlands district of the Kenyan capital, which houses the DusitD2 hotel as well as offices.
The Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab said it was behind the attack.
People, some covered in blood, were led out of the complex by police. Late on Tuesday the government said all buildings had been secured.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46880375
Why Al-Shabaab survives in Somalia
A topical commentary on Al-Shabaab in Somalia, two good maps of activity in 2017 and 2018. This comment explains why they retain popular support:
Quote:
Al Shabaab’s attacks make headlines, but the al Qaeda group offers something real to local Somalis. Perhaps incredibly, the group provides more efficient and less corrupt governance than the Somali Federal Government in some areas. Many Somalis
prefer al Shabaab’s justice over the Somali courts—even
traveling from government-controlled areas to al Shabaab-held areas to
seek justice. Al Shabaab courts deliver a verdict faster and are more likely to enforce it. This benefit allows al Shabaab to maintain support and attack zones, despite U.S. airstrikes.
Link:https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/fight-against-al-shabaab-isnt-over?
This post will be cross-posted on the main Somalia thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...)-2018-onwards
Kenya has its own thread, where thsi thread will e merged one day:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ya-(catch-all)
Could Kenya have prevented the hotel siege?
IMHO a good review of why, although from a faraway armchair/ It ends:
Quote:
Yet again, Kenya has suffered a big loss and as its people come to terms with this week's events they will wonder why it has to take catastrophe for more lessons to be learned.
Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46921249
Nairobi slum reveals the vast challenges facing Africa's megacities
A rare descriptive article on African urbanization and in The Daily Telegraph too. The dilemma is acute now, let alone in the future:
Quote:
Slum life is therefore overcrowded, wretched, dangerous and — because of high levels of unemployment — often violent. With many African cities now consisting of increasingly prosperous pockets surrounded by vast swathes of resentful indigence, political insecurity is also a risk.
Link:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/nairobi-slum-reveals-vast-challenges-facing-africas-megacities/?