Official: 200 al-Shabab fighters pledge allegiance to IS


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — About 200 Islamic extremist fighters have split from Somalia's al-Shabab rebels, who are allied to al-Qaida, and have instead pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, Kenya's police chief said Thursday.

The splinter group is operating around the Somali border in Kenya's north, and has carried out at least two attacks in the last two weeks, killing one soldier and two civilians in Mandera County, Joseph Boinett told The Associated Press.

The split in al-Shabab poses an extra challenge for Kenya's security forces, Boinnet said. Among those who have joined the pro-IS faction of al-Shabab is Mohamed Kuno, alias Gamadhere, who is wanted for the April 2 attack by al-Shabab gunmen on a Kenya's Garissa University in the country's east, in which 148 people were killed, Boinnet said.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight the Islamic extremists. Kenya has experienced a series of al-Shabab attacks since it sent its troops to Somalia in 2011.

The defections are causing tensions within al-Shabab.

Two men, an American citizen and U.S. resident defected, defected from al-Shabab and surrendered to Somali authorities earlier this month fearing they would killed by their former colleagues on suspicion that they are IS supporters. Al-Qaida and Islamic State are rivals for jihadi recruits

In October, Nigeria's Boko Haram extremists urged al-Shabab rebels to join them in pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and thus abandon al-Qaida.

The appeal from an unidentified armed fighter is part of a wider courting of al-Shabab. Similar messages came nearly two weeks ago from militant extremists in Iraq, Sinai, Syria, and Yemen.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent World stories

Related topics

World
TOM ODULA

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast