Kenya bus attack "linked to Islamic State"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kenya's police chief, Joseph Boinnet, has said al-Shabab militants behind this week's thwarted bus attack were linked to the Islamic State (IS) group, BBC News reports.

Boinnet said al-Shabab, the Somalia-based Islamist group, had split in two - one faction remaining loyal to al-Qaeda and the other to IS.

On Monday, December 21, Muslims protected fellow Christian passengers when their bus was ambushed near the Somali border.

The actions of the passengers on the bus on its way from the capital, Nairobi, to Mandera, were widely hailed, with one local politician saying it showed "a sense of patriotism and belonging to each other."

The police chief, giving his new year message, urged Kenyans to remain vigilant as he said that there were about 100 al-Shabab fighters operating in the north-east of the country, Kenya's Standard newspaper reports.

"Shopping malls, entertainment spots, restaurants and places of worship... are potential soft targets," he is quoted as saying.

Al-Shabab is currently battling to keep the loyalty of its fighters as IS tries to gain a foothold in East Africa, the BBC's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo reports.

It has historically been connected to al-Qaeda but in October Sheikh Abdulqadir Mumi, a prominent former "spiritual leader" and recruiter for al-Shabab, declared allegiance to IS. It is not clear how many followers he has taken with him.