The Kenyan government on Friday called terror alerts issued by the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) completely unfortunate, reported The East African.
The government, however, urged Kenyans to remain vigilant even though the country has attained great success in battling Al-Shabaab.
On Thursday, the US government warned its citizens in Kenya of a possible terror attack in Nairobi County. The US embassy in Nairobi warned that terrorist groups were planning to stage an attack with little or no warning, targeting crowded places.
In its periodic updates on travel advice, the UK government also cautioned its nationals to be extremely vigilant.
Both countries urged their citizens to exercise vigilance at high-traffic areas frequented by foreigners and tourists in Nairobi and elsewhere in Kenya as targets for the terror groups, to review their personal security plans, to be aware of their surroundings, and to monitor local media for updates.
On Friday, the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said the country was recording major success in battling the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group.
He said unilateral terror alerts are completely unfortunate but the circumstances under which they have been issued are due to the pressure Al-Shabaab is feeling in Somalia from the combined efforts of the Somali administration, community, and Kenyan troops. He said that the militants are actually on the run and it is believed that some may have crossed Kenya’s borders.
He said the infiltration could have led to pre-cautionary terror alerts. He said the alert is just to make people aware of their environment like overcrowded places. He added that the effect of the alert is that the Nigerian administration has boosted security levels in critical installations like public places.
The alert comes barely a month after the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, issued a security alert to its citizens over a possible attack.
