Dusit attack anniversary: Kenyan security agencies on alert as Israel-Hamas war rages on
Vehicles in flames at the scene of the terror attack at Dusit D2 Hotel on January 15, 2019.
Security agencies are keeping an eye on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is now threatening the security of pro-Israeli nations around the world, including Kenya, as the country marks the fifth anniversary of the Dusit Complex terror attack on Tuesday.
Kenya has not suffered a major terrorist attack since the deadly Dusit siege, but the country's security agencies have foiled many attempts by militant groups.
At around 3pm on that fateful January 15, 2019 afternoon, five terrorists from the Al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab terrorist group stormed 14 Riverside Complex, also known as Dusit D2, along Nairobi's Riverside Drive, killing 21 people.
Ali Salim Gichunge alias Farouk was the mastermind of the Dusit attack alongside Omar Abdi Siyat alias Samatar, Abdiweli Gedi alias Osman Ibrahim Gedi and Mahir Khalid Riziki, a suicide bomber, all of whom were killed in the attack, according to police.
People run during the Dusit terror attack in Westlands, Nairobi, on January 15, 2019.
Al Shabaab linked the attack, which killed 22 people including an American, to former US president Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, calling it "an attempt to give legitimacy to the illegitimate Zionist regime".
The group also linked the January 2020 attack on the US Manda Bay base in Lamu and the 2002 attack on the Paradise Hotel in Kikambala, Mombasa to events in Israel, raising fears of possible retaliatory attacks against pro-Israeli nationalities around the world.
With Kenya having suffered huge collateral damage in past large-scale attacks targeting foreign nationals, security agencies are now closely monitoring activities that could trigger a repeat attack in the country, especially now that al-Shabaab has openly celebrated the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
"Most terrorism issues are transnational, therefore we must consider international geopolitics and factor them in. If you look at most of the attacks that have happened in Kenya, they actually have an angle that is international, that is driven by aspects outside this country... I don't want to mention them but we know that these attacks, the justification used by the attackers had very little to do with us as Kenyans but some activities happening there outside," said Njenga Miiri, Head of Prevention and Resilience at the NCTC during the review of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy in October.
Kenya forensic officials with the help of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials collect evidence from a vehicle believed to have been used by the terrorists before they attacked DusitD2 complex on Riverside Drive in Nairobi on January 17, 2019.
Last month, Karrem Nasr, a US citizen allegedly inspired by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, was arrested in Nairobi, cutting short his planned trip to Somalia, where security officials say he was heading to join al-Shabaab and become a martyr to the jihadist cause.
Karrem Nasr, a 23-year-old American citizen who was extradited to New York on December 28, 2023 to face charges for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
“Karrem Nasr travelled across the globe in an attempt to join the ranks of a foreign terrorist organisation that has repeatedly expressed its desire to harm Americans around the world,” Mr James Smith Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI New York field office said.
In its latest security alert to its citizens in Kenya, the United Kingdom on Saturday evening claimed there is evidence of growing support for Daesh in Kenya.
“On January 4, Daesh published a statement calling for a new global campaign on terrorism including a specific focus on Western and Jewish targets. This statement and the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories could increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks which affect British nationals,” the advisory stated.
The evolving nature of terrorism and violent extremism has necessitated a review of the national counter-terrorism strategy to encompass events elsewhere that have a direct impact on terrorist activities in the country, as well as to seal loopholes that terrorists exploit to upscale their activities in the country.
One such loophole is the assumption by locals that women play a subordinate role in the planning and execution of terror attacks and hence deserve less scrutiny than their male counterparts.
Violet Kemunto, wife of Ali Salim Gichunge, one of the key suspects behind the January 15, 2019 DusitD2 terror attack.
Investigations have since established that Gichunge's wife, Violet Kemunto Omwoyo aka Khadija Mahmoud, played the role of a spy to gather information and facilitate the attack alongside her husband, meaning she was privy to the planning and execution of the attack.
At the time of the attack, she had already fled the country through the Mandera border into Somalia, according to security agencies.
Before meeting Gichunge, Kemunto spent her early life in Nairobi, attending City Primary School in Ngara, where she scored 350 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).
She was then admitted to Hamdan Girls High School in Mbale, Uganda, before joining Masinde Muliro University in 2011 to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
She had a stint as a public relations intern at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in 2014 before graduating in 2015. She worked as a manager at various mobile phone companies in Nairobi before she met Gichunge, got married and resigned.
“She joined the list of women deceived and radicalised by al-Shabaab recruiters with promises of a good life and meritorious accomplishment. Irresistible are the promises offered by al-Shabaab recruiters to these young and naive Jihadi brides,” a confidential document on the attack adds.
A notice from the US State department bearing the image of Mohamoud Abdi Aden, the terrorist mastermind of the 2019 attack on Dusit Hotel in Nairobi.
Police say she lives in Jilib, a well-known al-Shabaab territory where she has over time been married to multiple al-Shabaab operatives.
Also wanted is Mohamoud Abdi Aden, the leader of the terror cell that planned the 2019 Dusit hotel attack.
