Al-Shabaab use beautiful women to spy on Kenyan security officers

Al-Shabaab millitants who have now deviced a new tactic against officers by using beautiful women as spies. (Courtesy)

LAMU—Al -Shabaab militants are now using beautiful women as spies against security personnel involved in the Linda Boni operation in Lamu.

Linda Boni operation director Joseph Kanyiri said he was aware of the terrorist’s new tactic that has been used to attack security camps.

“They are using every available trick to spy on officers. But we are alert,” Kanyiri said.

He noted that the terror group had in fact used this trick before.

“Last year we arrested two women in Kiunga, who were spying for the terror group,” Kanyiri added.

In an exclusive interview with the Nation, officers who spoke on condition of anonymity said they had been forced to send the women out of some villages after discovering they were sent as spies and to plan attacks.

The officers revealed that they had become suspicious of the women since any time the women are seen; barely two days would go by before an Al-Shabaab attack.

“We are extra cautious nowadays. We have on several occasions chased away very beautiful women whom we suspect of being spies of Al-Shabaab.” a GSU officer who requested anonymity stated.

The beautiful women always target villages that closely border the officer’s camp and try to establish close relationships with them.

The operation ‘Linda Boni forest’ was launched in 2015 to flush out Al-Shabaab terrorists from Boni forest and neighboring areas.

On August 2, 2017, three Tana River County officials died after their vehicle was torched by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in the Witu-Gamba-Garsen highway in Lamu County.