More US Soldiers Deployed to Manda Bay as Lamu is Placed on Curfew

A group of American soldiers have been deployed at Manda Bay following an attack by the al-Shabaab on 5th January 2020 while Lamu County is now on a transport curfew.

The East Africa Response Force (EARF) was deployed to secure the base which has both Kenyan and American military presence following the Sunday night attack by al-Shabaab.

“The EARF’s ability to respond to events spanning a vast area of responsibility provides a proven and invaluable on-call reinforcement capability in times of need,” the US Africa Command (Africom) Director of Operations Major-General William Gayler said in a statement.

EARF has been working in conjunction with Kenyan forces in an effort to fight the militia group and responds to prioritizes in the protection of the US citizens and diplomatic facilities.

EARF members conduct their training exercises across East Africa and are stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

Manda Bay base is a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) military base used by US forces for training and counter-terrorism support to its East African partners.

Terrorists who attacked Manda Bay had attempted to gain access to the military base through the Manda Bay Airstrip but were repulsed by the soldiers leading to the deaths of three Africom service members.

Five terrorists were killed in the Manda Bay attack.

The attack on the Manda Bay military base in Lamu happened four days after gunmen from the al-Shabaab killed three people and injured three others who were travelling to Lamu from Mombasa near Witu.

The terrorist ambushed a convoy of buses which included Simba Coach, Mombasa Raha, and TSS, all headed from Lamu to Mombasa.

Lamu Curfew

Following the spike in terror attacks in Lamu County, the Government has beefed up security across the Country and has enforced a curfew in Lamu.

All transport vessels will no longer be operating at night in Lamu County following the spike in terror attacks by al-Shabaab.

The Lamu curfew will start at 10 PM and end at 4 AM every day to enable the security agencies to monitor any suspicious activity in the County.

Lamu County has been experiencing a spike in terror attacks given its location to the Boni forest which enables the militia group to have access to both Kenya and Somalia.