Tuesday, August 23, 2016
By STEPHEN ASTARIKO
A file photo of the Mandera Border Control Post
Security patrols along the Somalia border has been enhanced to prevent al Shabaab from targeting communication infrastructure, Northeastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh said on Monday.
Saleh said al Shabaab militants' bombing of two Safaricom masts in Lafey and Fino in Mandera was meant to sabotage communication infrastructure and frustrate security operations in the area.
“We have permanent ground security operations on hotspots along the border after we realised that out desperation al Shabaab were out to sabotage our communication infrastructure by making incursions on border towns on Mandera,” he said.
He spoke when he received the Auditor General in his office on Monday.
The regional coordinator said few attacks have been reported for the past 14 months.
“They were also planning to bomb water pipelines in these towns but we managed to secure them,” he said
He said his security team is working closely with the lower Juba administration under Abdi Madobe to ensure the militants are defeated.
“Our Amisom troops inside Somalia have secured huge tracts of land. I am optimistic that within no time al Shabaab will be defeated,” Saleh said.
The administrator said sharing of intelligence, improved general command and coordination within the security files and ranks has led to improved security.
“Our key mandate is to ensure that security in Northeastern is restored,” he said.
Saleh is credited for ending shifta menace in the former Northeastern province in early 2000.