Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has beefed up security in all airports within the country over the Easter holiday period as a precaution over a suspected plan by Al-Shabaab to launch an attack.
KAA Head of Security Col (Rtd) Solomon Kaleli informed the management of all airports to increase security operations including random searches, avoiding long queues, more police patrols and also proper use of CCTV cameras.
Capital News reported that Kaleli sent a memo to the managers on Friday explaining to them about intelligence reports about a planned Al-Shabaab attack over the Easter holiday period.
“Arising from the above, you are advised to urgently convene a security meeting in your respective stations with your stakeholders and map out security strategies on how to mitigate the threat highlighted,” he stated.
He then informed the airports’ management to raise the level of threat alert.
“In addition to the strategies, you are required to upscale your threat level to level (2) amber as provided for in your respective airport security programmes and ensure the measures required for level two threat are fully implemented,” Kaleli added.
This precautionary measure comes a few months after the terrorist group attacked the Dusit D2 hotel complex in Nairobi leaving 21 people dead.
The Somalia based terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. In a telephone interview with Aljazeera, Al-Shabaab's spokesperson admitted liability by stating that they were “conducting an operation in Nairobi”.
Kenya has been involved in trying to neutralise the militia by sending the military to Somalia under the AU mission to Somalia (AMISOM) on a peacekeeping mission and have made major strides in fighting the terror group.
Kenya though announced in March that it will be withdrawing the forces from Somalia claiming that the country has gained considerable stability through the locals decried the act by stating the withdrawal of KDF exposed them to more attacks by Al-Shabaab.
