Kenya Investors Cry Foul as Tourists Flee Country

Nairobi. Tourism investors in Kenya cried foul over a massive airlift of hundreds of foreign tourists from the country by Britain, Australia and France who cited insecurity concerns.

The traders think there was more than meets the eye, and have pointed to “economic sabotage over Kenya’s changing foreign policy since President Uhuru Kenyatta came to power in 2013.”

The developing crisis in Kenya is, however, partly blamed on the al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab whose stronghold inside Somalia was yesterday pounded by fighter jets in the latest push by African Union troops to root out the insurgents.

The air strikes on the town of Jilib are understood to be part of the offensive by the 22,000-strong UN-backed AU force, who launched in March a fresh bid to wrest remaining towns from the Al-Shabaab.

Kenyan forces are also in Somalia ever since they were ordered in by the previous regime to fight Al-Shabaab fighters who had masterminded several attacks on its soil and abducted tourists among other hostages. “I heard two heavy explosions, military jets were flying over the city,” said Osman Mohamed, a resident of Jilib. The impoverished town is a key Al-Shabaab hub in southern Somalia’s Middle Juba region, some 320 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu.

Senior Al-Shabaab commander Sheikh Ibrahim Abu Hamze said war planes had struck the town, but denied any casualties.

“The mujahedeen fighters have managed to repel the enemy with anti-aircraft weaponry, they have fled,” claimed Abu Hamze in a telephone interview with AFP.

It was not immediately clear where the jets were from, but Kenya is part of the AU force and has used its air planes to strike Al-Shabaab bases before.

Hardline Al-Shabaab insurgents once controlled most of southern and central Somalia.

After withdrawing from fixed positions in the capital Mogadishu nearly three years ago, they have lost most large towns to the AU and government soldiers. However, they still regularly launch guerrilla raids and its fighters are linked to ongoing sporadic bomb attack inside Kenya that have killed hundreds of people. The insecurity situation was however was not being seen by tourist players as the main reason why western countries at the weekend issued travel advisories cancelling holiday bookings for its citizens to deal a blow to the struggling industry.  (AFP)