OTTAWA Canada
(Xinhua) -- A Canadian man and five
other people suspected of helping attackers stage an extremist
attack that killed 21 people in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi
have appeared in court, according to CTV Saturday.On
Friday, a judge in Nairobi ordered five of the suspects,
including the Canadian man identified as Guleid Abdihakim, held
for 30 days while police are looking into the deadly attack on
the DusitD2 Hotel complex.
The attackers stormed the hotel complex by opening fire and
throwing grenades, killing 21 people, including one police
officer.
Five attackers were killed by Kenyan security forces.
Islamist extremist group al-Shabab in Somalia claimed
responsibility for the Tuesday attack, saying its was a response
to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel.
Kenya is one of the strongest allies of the United States in
Africa. Al-Shabab carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi’s
nearby Westgate Mall that claimed 67 lives, and an assault on
Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that killed 147 people,
mostly students.
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UPDATE:
Kenyan public places
tighten security to curb terror threats
NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
Getting into buildings, office and shopping
complexes in Kenyan capital Nairobi has become a little harder
as security is beefed up following a terror attack at the
upscale dusitD2 Hotel in the expatriate district of Westlands.
Kenyan police confirmed that 21 people were killed and dozen
others injured in the terrorist attack by Somali militant group
al-Shabab.
While some of the business premises have added more security
guards, others have enhanced surveillance and security checks to
ensure criminals have little chance to get in.
Vehicles are being checked thoroughly unlike in the past
weeks as individuals are also frisked, with some buildings
allowing in only those who produce National Identity Cards while
others asking visitors to leave their luggage at the entrance.
Idling around buildings, a common practice in Nairobi as most
of them are reference points for those who want to meet, is now
being discouraged, and so is the parking of vehicles at
undesignated places near the buildings.
There is certainly a new security order in the capital
Nairobi and citizens are feeling it as companies don’t want to
take chances following the terror attack.
At the Nation Center, one of the iconic buildings in the city
and popular meeting point for city residents, the number of
security guards has been added both at the entrance and around
the building, with the management discouraging idling.
"Please move away from here. We do not encourage holding of
informal meetings around this place," a security guard told a
group of four young men who were engaging in banter on Saturday.
Before the attacks, most supermarkets in the capital Nairobi
were allowing their customers to get in with bags after being
frisked, which they will pack in goods bought following a
national ban on plastic bags.
But since Tuesday, a number of supermarkets have become
strict, with customers asked to leave anything they are carrying
at the luggage section before getting in.
"Leave the bag here," a security guard ordered a customer at
one of the branches of Tuskys Supermarket on Saturday.
"You will come for it after paying for the goods and put them
in," he added as the male customer’s protests fell on deaf ears.
Kenyans have welcomed the new security measures, noting that
they would help keep terrorists at bay.
"I am impressed by the increased security checks at buildings
in Nairobi but I hope they would last because initially they
have been enforced for about two weeks after a terror attack and
then forgotten until the next incident," said Moses Njenga, a
primary school teacher in Nairobi.
However, some are skeptical if the measures would really
deter terrorists and called for a better strategy to deal with
the crime.
"There was a working security check at the dusitD2 hotel yet
it did not stop the terrorists from getting in.
"We need to rethink of a better way of stopping terror
activities from being planned," said banker Tina Kimonge.
Kenya on Friday announced that in six months’ time, it would
issue private security guards manning malls, banks, supermarkets
and even some residential areas with guns to curb terrorist
attacks.
Private Security Regulatory Authority director Fazul Mohamed
noted that the guards are usually the first point of contact
with the criminals in case of a terror attack, therefore, they
must be equipped to respond appropriately.
"The selected security guards will also be taken through
counter-terrorism training," he said.
After the atack, the East African nation is believed to be
dealing with an even more complex problem of radicalization,
with experts calling for empowerment of youth to help stem the
vice.
"We must all engage them - the government, religious
entities, corporates, community leaders and families.
"We can no longer be casual, security alertness is crucial,"
said James Ole Kiyiapi, a former permanent secretary of the
Ministry of Education.