Religious leaders join to wipe out terrorism in Northern Kenya

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said that the attacks on innocent Kenyans were acts of desperation from the militia and said that such people’s days were numbered.

GARISSA (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s religious leaders drawn from the Christian and Muslim faiths on Tuesday vowed to remain vigilant over terrorist who are bent on stirring inter- religious conflict in the country following Sunday twin attacks on churches in northern Kenya.

The leaders said those who attacked the churches were doing so as to create animosity and hatred between Muslim and Christians’ faithful who have been living in the country harmoniously for decades.

"We treat the incident as an act of international terrorism and not a war between a Muslim and Christian faithful," chairman of pastors’ fellowship in Garissa Pastor John Maura told journalists in Garissa town.

The clergymen were speaking two days after gunmen killed at least 17 people and injured more than 65 others in twin attacks on two churches in northern Kenya.

On Monday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga led a high powered government to northern Kenya where he vowed never to pullout soldiers from war-torn Somalia despite the recurring terror attacks in the East African nation.

Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka instead called on Kenyans to join security agents in fighting terrorism by volunteering information that they may have.

Odinga said that the attacks on innocent Kenyans were acts of desperation from the militia and said that such people’s days were numbered.

"This is a desperate enemy resorting to desperate actions, after sensing defeat, I want to appeal to Garissa residents and Kenya public in general to be your brother’s keeper and report any incident of insecurity for actions to be taken," Odinga said.

But the clergymen who were speaking after visiting the attacked churches and the victims of the Sunday terrorist attack said the heinous act has brought the Christians and Muslim communities living in North-Eastern region more closely than before contrarily to anticipation of the assailant who want spark off inter-faith conflict in the country.

Maura said the attack on the churches in the town has affected everyone including the Muslims since one of the police officers who were killed guarding the AIC church was a Muslim.

The pastor said the Christian community was touched by the solidarity shown by their Muslim counterpart in the country who apart from swiftly condemning the incident with strongest terms possible offered them consolation and material support.

National secretary of the Council of Imam Sheikh Hussein Mahat Noor said that terrorist is a global threat to civilization and human existence that discriminate no religions, greed, and race affiliations and it requires concerted efforts by all peace loving human being to confront head on.

He revealed that Muslim community in the town will make contribution to support the families of those killed and injured in the beastidily grenade and gun attacks.

"We are making contributions to support our affected brothers and sisters to see them through this most difficult time and we shall make sure we will provide security to their places of worship by guarding outside their churches every Sunday for them to conduct their prayers.

"We will die with them if such incident occurred again," Noor said.

Kenya cited abductions of foreigners, grenade and landmine attacks as the reasons for cross border incursion into Somalia in October last year.

Kenya’s tourism has suffered a decline the number of tourists arriving since September 2011 when the Somali militant group, the Al-Shabaab, carried out the kidnappings of tourists in the Lamu archipelago and the kidnapping of the Spanish volunteers.

The port city, the capital Nairobi and other parts of Kenya have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to try to pursue Al-Shabaab insurgents it blames for a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism.

Local Member of Parliament Barre Dualle urged the government to provide adequate security to protect the lives and property of the residents of the North-eastern which borders the war-torn Somalia noting that the region is likely to experience more targeted attacks from the weaken Islamist group Al-Shabaab because of its proximity to Somalia.

"The mindset our security machinery must be changed now that our country is at war with terrorist group in Somalia.

"It can never be the business as usually in term of the country’s security for our intelligent officers and they must proof to be equally to the task of the insecurity threats faced from international terrorist," Duale said.

The legislator said the government must bring to justice the criminals who attacked churches on Sunday in his constituency and killed innocent lives and ensure no such incidents occurs in future anyway in the country.

Font: SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENTS Christine Lagat and Stephen Ingati