Kenya air attack kills 60 al Qaeda in Somalia

VOA:
Kenya said Saturday that airstrikes have killed at least 60 al-Qaida-linked militants in southern Somalia, as part of an ongoing effort to force them out of the country.

A military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna told reporters that al-Shabab militants were killed in Friday's airstrikes in the town of Garbaharey in Somalia's Gedo area.  He said the military was tipped off about the militants' whereabouts, and that he expects the death toll from the attack to rise. 

In a related development, Britain said Saturday that London believes there is a heightened terrorist threat in Kenya. A Foreign Office statement says Britain believes terrorists may be "in the final stages of planning attacks."  

The statement warns that terrorist attacks may be indiscriminate and could target places frequented by expatriates and tourists.

Somalian media reported Saturday that al-Shabab forces had withdrawn from Buurdhuubo District of Gedo Region in southwestern Somalia.  The reports quote witnesses as saying that insurgents carrying weapons moved out of the area together with their armored vehicles.  Reports also say that transitional government troops backed by Kenyan forces have advanced to the area.
... 
It appears that the operational tempo for al Qaeda and Kenya has picked up in recent days.  Kenya must have some intelligence sources within Somalia and may also have some intelligence on the planned attack.  Al Qaeda has conducted mass murder for Allah attacks in Kenya before.

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