Kenya sees rise in extremist toll
Islamic militants killed 173 last year, with violence blamed on Somalia's al-Shabab.
NAIROBI, Kenya - Islamic extremists killed 173 people in Kenya in 2014, the highest number in the three years that Kenya has experienced violence blamed on neighboring Somalia's al-Shabab militants, Kenya's police force said Wednesday.
The 2014 death toll is even higher than that of 2013 when extremists killed 67 people in the assault on Nairobi's Westgate Mall.
Kenyan police said 312 people were killed in the country in militant attacks since 2012 and 779 people were wounded during the period. It is the first time police have categorized Kenya's extremist attacks in their crime report.
Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Mandera, and Wajir were towns where the attacks took place between 2012 and 2014. The targets included security officials, tourist spots, buses, churches, malls and other crowded places, said acting Police Chief Samuel Arachi.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution for Kenya sending troops to Somalia. Kenya deployed its troops to Somalia in October 2011 to fight the extremist rebels who had carried out cross-border attacks including the kidnapping of four Europeans. Kenyan troops are now part of a multinational African Union force bolstering Somalia's weak government against an insurgency by al-Shabab that is linked to al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabab, in a video released Saturday, threatened more attacks on Kenya.
Al-Shabab gunmen shot dead at least 60 non-Muslims in two separate incidents in northern Kenya in late November and early December.
A Kenyan official said Tuesday that the government is looking at new options to control the threat, including constructing a wall or gullies on parts of the 423-mile border with Somalia. The official, who insisted on anonymity, said there are discussions about how to create a buffer zone with Somalia.