The leader of al Shabaab’s Kenya cell has posted a new video online in which he claims the militants are targetting major centres, including State House.
The heavily-bearded man is seen seated on the ground telling a bunch of hooded terrorists that they will march on State House and force Kenya to “change their flag by erasing all the colours – except the red one”.
Ahmed Iman, a JKUAT-trained engineer from Majengo, and on whose head there is a Sh300 million bounty, said Shabaab “will spill blood in Kenya”.
The propaganda video came as police issued a warning that the group may stage attacks on major airports in the country.
The video was released by the group's media agency Al Kataib.
Iman is seen addressing scores of hooded men in a lush green forest, stomping in a parade and celebrating the attack on KDF soldiers at El Adde, inside Somalia, last month.
Head of airport security Eric Kiraithe said a team of 11 suicide bombers may stage attacks on landing planes.
“A team have undergone training within Somalia on airborne suicide missions in readiness for the attacks. Five operatives will target Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or Wilson Airport, while the rest will focus on airports at the Coast region, among them Moi International Airport,” he said.
Iman, said to be the leader of Shabaab’s al-Hijra wing, said the fighters are in Kenya and will attack Kenyans from “every lane and corner”.
“Kenyans immersed themselves into a war they did not fully do know the meaning of,” he said. “Know for sure that disaster has struck El Adde. The Kenyans were warned again and again and again. Right now as I speak to you, the only thing that I bought was my turban. My gun, my pouch and my uniform are all war booty from Kenyan troops,” he said amid chants of “Allahu Akbar”.
He said Kenyans should have learnt from the bloody experiences of the Ethiopian, Ugandan and Burundian camps inside Somalia destroyed and their soldiers killed by Shabaab.
He is seen holding an M4 rifle allegedly belonging to a killed Kenyan soldier.
“If the family of the person owning this gun that is numbered 0490 is looking for their son, let them know that I am now in possession of the war booty taken from him,” he says with a broad, evil smile.
“Any Kenyan who has lost their family members from the army that was defeated by the lions of Shabaab should contact us. The first time our sister, who was pregnant, was thrown from the third floor of an Eastleigh building,” Ali said.
“Another sister in the same area was also thrown from the top of a house until her spine broke. In Mandera, they came and kidnapped our mother, who had five children and was their support.”
Intelligence sources observed that the release of the video may indicate the group wants to elbow out the Lamu county-based Jaysh Ayman in an apparent power struggle between the two cells.