Barely a month after the Al Shabaab terror attack on Garissa University College that claimed an estimated 147 lives, there are new fears the Somali terror group may be planning more audacious attacks on prominent locations within the City of Nairobi. Speculation is swirling on social media that there are Al Shabaab operatives in the country planning attacks on targets such as Parliament, Muthurwa market and the University of Nairobi.
INTEL: Alshabaab have dispatched their operatives to launch more high scale attacks in the Country on unspecified Dates.
— modern kenyan corps (@moderncorps) April 27, 2015
INTEL: Alshabaab are planning to plant a Bomb within parliament building..They intends to use an operative at pumwani Riyadha mosque
— modern kenyan corps (@moderncorps) April 27, 2015
Alshabaab are also targeting Muthurwa market, Nairobi Pentecostal Church, Holy Family Basilica,St Andrew PCEA church & University of Nairobi
— modern kenyan corps (@moderncorps) April 27, 2015
The speculation about Al Shabaab attacks on prominent targets in Nairobi appears to have been sparked by a leaked intelligence report signed by Nairobi Central Police OCPD Paul Wanjama.
The leaked “Situation Report” dated 23rd April, which is currently pinging around social media and Whatsapp chat rooms, names the targeted areas and concludes that
“In the meantime all named targets to have enhanced security and thorough checks especially Parliament, place of worship and schools being targeted.”
It’s tempting to ignore these security alerts when they are shared on social media because they often have the air of scare mongering. However its worth noting that such reports have been on the mark in the past. For example, days to the attack on Garissa university College there were various reports that Al Shabaab were planning to attack a Kenyan institution of learning. The University of Nairobi and USIU even warned students to be on alert.
“fresh credible intelligence of #AlShabaab“: USIU 4 days ago – via @RobertAlai #GarissaAttack pic.twitter.com/7orzDa2IsW
— Magnus Boding Hansen (@m_boding) April 2, 2015
