Somali militant group al-Shabaab has released a new video on Tuesday showing footage of the June…
Somali militant group al-Shabaab has released a new video on Tuesday showing footage of the June 2014 attack in the Kenyan coastal town of Mpeketoni, for which it claimed the responsibility.
The 15-minute video, entitled ‘’No Protection Except by Emaan or Amaan 1 – Mpeketoni”, was published by the group’s media section and conducted in Arabic language.
At least 50 people were killed in the attack, after dozens of gunmen sped into the small coastal town, and shot World Cup spectators in a hall, as well as attacking hotels, a bank, and the police station, according to the authorities.
It starts with the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in a Press Conference, denying al-Shabaab was behind the attack. Mr Kenyatta had claimed it was ‘’politically motivated’’.
In the video, al-Shabaab said it carried out the attack in order to take revenge on Kenya for the presence of its troops in Somalia, where they are battling the militants, as well as for the killing of radical clerics linked to al-Shabab in the port city of Mombasa.
A group of more than 20 heavily armed militants is shown in the footage while getting prepared for the assault and later on crossing forests before their final destination – Mpeketoni. Several foreign fighters are part of the armed gunmen as shown in the footage.
Sheikh Aboud Rogo, a Kenyan radical Islamist cleric, appeared in the video giving a lecture in Swahili language in which he urged the youths to fight against what he called ‘’kufaar’’ (Non-muslims), thought to be meaning the Kenyan security forces. He was shot dead in Mombasa in 2012.
Many have accused the Kenyan security forces the responsibility of the assassination.
Al-Shabaab further published images showing its militants shooting residents and setting up fire on buildings.
The governor of Lamu County which Mpeketoni is part of, Issa Timamy was arrested by the government of Kenya after the attack but was released last year September after not being found guilty. He was suspected of having links to the attack.
It is the second video released by the al-Qaeda linked militant group in less than two weeks. Last month, al-Shabab released a propaganda video calling on Muslim fighters to launch attacks in malls located in Canada and the U.S.
Last year, al-Shabaab carried two deadly attacks in the North-eastern Kenyan province killing at least 64 people. Kenyans have accused the government of Uhuru Kenyatta failing to protect the country against the extremist attacks.
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