Kenyan al Shabaab recruits have fled from Somalia in fear of attacks by the terror group that suspects they are AMISOM spies.
Sources say Kenya Defence Forces has infiltrated the terror group based in Somalia by recruiting spies,
including foreigners, within their ranks.
KDF spokesman Colonel Joseph Owuoth said several youths, mainly from Lamu and Mombasa, have been executed in broad daylight as locals watched on claims they are spies.
On January 26, 2016, the terror group
executed three men it accused of spying for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other agencies in Somalia.
On Sunday, a man from Lamu was killed by al Shabaab's top leaders for linking the intelligence he had to AMISOM troops.
Two weeks ago, Kenyans Yusuf Hassan and Ahmed Nur were executed by the terror group's firing squad in Buq Aqable in Hiiran region.
James Seriani, Linda Boni operations director, said on Wednesday that the fate of many others was unknown while Owuoth said they will release the total number of locals killed in Somalia.
“We are yet to get the accurate figures but we will confirm in due course,” he said.
Al Shabaab has been recruiting members from
Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi and Lamu counties and parts of Central Kenya
for military training in Somalia.
They have carried out sporadic attacks in several parts of Kenya in response to KDF's presence in Somalia. The deadliest was the Garissa University College massacre of 147 people, mostly students, on April 2, 2015.
The aim of the African Union Mission in Somalia is to eliminate the group and restore peace. The other troop contributing countries are Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
A senior KDF officer, who did not want to be named, told the Star that Kenyans and foreign fighters are assigned to suicide missions
creating tension within its ranks.
A Kenyan named Anwar Yogan was the suicide bomber behind a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) that killed dozens of KDF personnel in an attack in Kulbiyow, Somalia on
January 27.
A Sh2 million bounty was placed on his head.
A number of youths were also radicalised through the Internet or after listening to fiery sermons by slain radical Mombasa preacher Sheikh Aboud Rogo.
Rogo had preached at the controversial Musa Mosque, Sakina in Mombasa for almost a decade before he was killed in the coastal city on August 27, 2012.
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On April 11, at least 15 al Shabaab terrorists were killed in a botched operation near the border town of El Wak in Somalia's Gedo region. KDF were reportedly tipped off.
Owouth said the forces from a nearby location engaged the militants using artillery and mortar fire and successfully destroyed the terrorists’ camp.
Three AK 47 rifles, eleven magazines, a satellite phone and 290 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the attackers.
The foiled attack came just two weeks after KDF raided al Shabaab command and logistics centre in lower Jubaland, Somalia and killed 31 militants.
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