Monday January 1, 2024

Suspected Al-Shabaab militants on Friday morning attacked the National Police Service’s (NPS) Quick Response Unit (QRU) Camp in Mandera County.

Police reports indicate that more than 20 heavily-armed militants approached the camp from the northwest, initiating their assault within a proximity of 100 meters from the camp.

“Officers who were alert responded swiftly and engaged them for 15 minutes but managed to repulse them,” a police report documenting the incident reads in part.

Officers based at the camp however retaliated, engaging the militants in a 15-minute intense gun battle before the assailants fled.

No police officer was killed or injured during the incident.

“No injuries on our side and all officers accounted while on the enemy side pending confirmation during clearance at first light. Currently situation under control,” said the police report.

Monday January 1, 2024

120 journalists and media workers, including 11 women, have been killed in 2023, announced the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on 31 December.

The IFJ, which published an initial list of journalists killed ahead of UN Human Rights Day on 8 December documenting 94 killings, says the latest increase is the result of additional deaths in the Gaza war as well as other killings being made known to the federation.

“Today our thoughts go out to journalists’ families and our colleagues in world newsrooms who are mourning the deaths of colleagues killed for simply doing their jobs. While we always remind journalists that no story is worth their life, there are too many situations where they are deliberately targeted to cover up stories and restrict the public’s right to know. It is a democratic right of citizens to be duly informed; it is governments’ responsibility to ensure journalists are protected to report independently. The deadly figures from this year illustrate how badly we need an international binding instrument forcing states to adopt key mechanisms to protect journalists’ safety and independence,” said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.

This year, 68% of journalists and media workers killed worldwide have been killed in the Gaza conflict, the Federation records.

In the Middle East, 75 Palestinian, four Israeli, three Lebanese journalists were killed as a result of the war in Gaza, and three media workers were killed in Syria.

In the Asia-Pacific region, 12 journalists have been killed, whether inIndia (3), Afghanistan (2), the Philippines (2), Bangladesh (2), Pakistan (2) or China (1).

In North and South America10 journalists were killed in 2023. Three Mexicans, one Paraguayan, three Guatemalan, one Colombian, one Honduran and one American .

In Africa, the IFJ deplores 8 murders in Cameroon (2), Sudan (1), Lesotho (1), Mali (1), Somalia (1), Mozambique (1),Nigeria (1) which have failed to be fully investigated to date, and one accidental killing in Rwanda.

In Europe, 3 journalists and media workers – Ukrainian (1), Russian (1) and French (1) – have been killed in the Ukrainian war-, and 1 media worker in Albania

The IFJ calls on world governments to swiftly adopt an international binding Convention to protect journalists’ safety and independence.

Monday January 1, 2024

A US citizen allegedly inspired by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel was arrested in the Kenyan capital Nairobi mid-this month on his way to join the Al Shabaab terror network in Somalia.

Karrem Nasr, 23, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, was arrested on December 14 after flying from Egypt to Nairobi, where federal prosecutors say he was planning to meet with al-Shabaab members before travelling to train in Somalia, where the terror group is based.

He was extradited to New York on December 28 to face charges for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

The October 7 attack on Israel has been described as one of the third worst terror attacks in history, ranked close to the 9/11 attack that recorded the largest mass fatalities in the history of terror attacks.

According to a statement by the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, the suspect had been contemplating engaging in jihad for a long time and was particularly motivated to become a jihadi by the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
For example, in communications with a covert FBI operative, Nasr stated that the number one enemy was “evil America,” which he called the “head of the snake”.

Additionally, in his recent public social media posts, he warned that “Jihad” was “coming soon to a US location near you”, posting airplane, bomb, and fire emojis: And in further communications with the operative, Nasr expressed his intent to join Al Shabaab to receive military training and engage in jihad, that he was prepared to kill and be killed, and that he specifically aspired to be a martyr for the jihadist cause.

“NASR is a 23-year-old US citizen who moved from New Jersey to Egypt in or about July 2023. NASR is a supporter of Al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organisation that has attacked Americans and American allies. Since at least in or about November 2023, NASR has repeatedly expressed his desire and plans to join al Shabaab and wage jihad, including in communications with an FBI confidential source who was posing as a facilitator for terrorist organizations,” the statement added.

His charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

“Karrem Nasr travelled across the globe in an alleged attempt to join the ranks of a foreign terrorist group– an organisation that has repeatedly expressed its desire to harm Americans around the world,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith.

New York Police Department’s Commissioner Edward A. Caban faulted Nasr for failing to embrace all that the United States had to offer him instead choosing to move abroad and committing himself to supporting a terrorist organisation.

“The provision of support to such a group – particularly by an American citizen – is a heinous threat to our entire country and way of life. In the face of this, NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners on the FBI-led New York Joint Terrorism Task Force will remain relentless in our efforts to identify and investigate anyone who so clearly considers our nation their sworn enemy,” he said.

Nasr told the operative that he planned to delete data from his cellphone and computer to ensure that if he were detained, law enforcement would not be able to recover evidence of his jihadist activities from those devices.