Boni Enclave Campaign director Joseph Kanyiri speaking in his office. He said KDF have destroyed six Al-Shabaab camps. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Officers conducting the ongoing security operation Linda Boni in Lamu County have destroyed six Al-Shabaab transit camps in the Boni Forest, Lamu.
Boni Enclave Campaign director Joseph Kanyiri said the hideouts were discovered and destroyed through efforts by the Kenya Defence Forces.
According to the Daily Nation, Mr Kanyiri said an undisclosed number of Al-Shabaab militants were killed during the ambush and bombing of their hideouts.
Speaking on Monday, the director, however, said that several others escaped with bullets wounds urging hospitals in Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Kilifi and Mombasa counties to report to the police anyone seeking treatment from bullet wounds.
He confirmed that during the operation, they managed to recover weapons, including AK-47 rifles, grenade-making tools, food and medicine in the camps.
“They were camps formed by the terrorists as they planned to conduct attacks in various parts of Lamu,” said Mr Kanyiri as quoted by the Daily Nation.
He further said that the hideouts were being used by the militants to launch attacks in the area which forced the national government to launch the ‘Linda Boni’ operation in 2015 with the objective of flushing out the Al-Shabaab militants from Boni Forest.
Mr Kanyiri urged Al-Shabaab returnees in Lamu to surrender to the police for rehabilitation and re-integration into the society adding that the government amnesty for Al-Shabaab returnees was still ongoing.