Kenyan court sentences men for aiding al-Shabab militants in 2019 hotel attack
Al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab, based in neighbouring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the daytime attack, one of its deadliest inside Kenya.
Hussein Mohamed Abdille Ali sat in the dock at a Nairobi court (Andrew Kasuku/AP)
It occurred six years after an attack killed 67 people at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall and four years after an attack killed 147 students at Garissa University in northern Kenya.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011, and continues to stage attacks in Somalia and Kenya.
Judge Diana Kavedza during her sentencing said the judgment spoke for the survivors who deserve closure.
She noted 'one of the most comprehensive counterterrorism investigations in Kenya's history, as law enforcement agencies pursued not only the attackers' immediate associates but also financiers, facilitators and logistical co-ordinators who enabled the attack'.
Foreign nationals, including an American and a Briton, were among those killed in the 2019 attack.
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Bounty of $5m placed on warlord ‘Barbecue' who rules world's most dangerous city with super-gang who burn people alive
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Thousands of civilians are believed to have been caught in the brutal crossfire. There have even been reports of rotting bodies littering the streets of the city as lawlessness runs amok. Cherizier, a former Haitian cop, now leads a gang alliance called Viv Ansanm. read more in world news PEACE PLOT Trump & Putin 'plan West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine' to secure truce This group stands accused of numerous atrocities including murders and kidnappings across the lawless capital. The US if offering a $5 million (£3.7 million) reward for information that leads to Cherizier's arrest. "There's a good reason that there's a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier's arrest," US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. "He's a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti." The indictment alleges that he and US citizen Bazile Richardson solicited funds from the Haitian diaspora in the United States. This money was then allegedly used to pay gang members and buy weapons in defiance of US sanctions. Irish woman among nine people kidnapped in horror planned armed gang attack on orphanage in Haiti Richardson was arrested in Texas last month. The pair helped "bankroll Cherizier's violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti", according to Assistant US Attorney General John Eisenberg. He further said US authorities would "continue to pursue those who enable Haiti's violence and instability". Cherizier's nickname Barbecue is rumoured refer to him setting his victims on fire. Under rampant gang brutality, Port-au-Prince is now considered one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. Fighting between gangs, cops and citizen groups has ripped through the city, leaving its infrastructure in tatters. Health services are crumbling and food insecurity has grown increasingly acute throughout Port-au-Prince. A recent attempt by a UN backed Kenyan led security force failed to restore control from the gangs. Haiti was thrown into crisis when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in 2021. Who is Barbecue? HAITI'S Port-au-Prince currently lies in the hands of the feared Jimmy "Barbecue Barbecue - who is rumoured to have earned his nickname for setting his victims on fire - envisions himself as a "revolutionary", a self-professed "man of the people". His methods involve the killing, maiming and extorting of anyone unlucky enough to fall within his turf - turning every day into a constant battle for survival for residents. The fired cop turned warlord has been taking to the streets with a renewed vengeance and a plan to overthrow the government. He is currently sanctioned by the UK and its allies for "engaging in acts threatening the peace, security and stability of Haiti". And his influence is fast increasing as the country spirals into further turmoil sparked by the 2021 assassination of the country's Prime Minister Jovenal Moïse. Ever since, a security vacuum opened up and Barbecue has been greedily exploiting it, taking over territory and expanding his coalition with other gangs to wage further war. G9 has also been responsible for repeatedly cutting Haiti off from its much-needed fuel supply by taking its main oil terminal hostage. In a savage display of strength, Barbecue paralysed the country several times by preventing the distribution of food, water and vital medicines, plunging it into a deeper humanitarian crisis. Barbecue's criminal career dates back to his time as a police officer, InSight Crime reports. He participated in an anti-gang operation in 2017, leading to the extrajudicial killing of nine civilians. In 2018, he led a group of seven gangs in a massacre in La Saline, Haiti's worst massacre in over a decade. Barbecue was then fired from the police force and a warrant was issued for his arrest. In 2019, he participated in a four-day attack across Port-au-Prince's Bel-Air neighborhood, killing at least 24 people. 7 A man searches through burning trash in Port-au-Prince
Spectator
6 hours ago
- Spectator
Can Trump take down the cartels?
In December 1989, the United States invaded Panama. The objective was Manuel Noriega, a pineapple-faced general who'd risen to power in a coup d'etat and turned his small, Central American country into a pit stop for Pablo Escobar's cocaine moving north. Noriega fled to the Vatican Embassy, where the US Army blasted heavy metal music until the opera-loving despot surrendered. The invasion of Panama took place when the war on drugs – at that time, crack cocaine – was a priority for the US government under George Bush Snr. Now, with the deadly opioid crisis and immigration on top of the agenda, Donald Trump might be treading in those footsteps. The commander-in-chief has signed an executive order greenlighting military action against Latin American mobs his administration has branded as terrorists, akin to Isis or al-Qaeda: several Mexican drug mafias, notably the Jalisco and Sinaloa; Venezuela's vicious Tren de Aragua gang and the Cartel of the Suns, a cabal of coke-dealing generals; and the tattooed gangbangers of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). While observers and insiders are sure something as drastic as Panama is unlikely, it's still unclear what Trump is trying to accomplish. 'It's very difficult to make predictions when it comes to Trump,' noted Phil Gunson, senior analyst for Crisis Group. 'However, full-scale military intervention is unimaginable, and any action would no doubt be limited to special forces or – more likely – some form of bombardment, probably using drones.' In this reinvigorated war on drugs, the primary targets will likely be the Mexican cartels responsible for the deluge of fentanyl pouring over the southern border. For years now the Republicans have been calling to send in the troops, and Trump himself has reportedly pondered the possibilities, from a naval blockade to dispatching commando kill squads to liquidate narco warlords. Since Trump's return to the White House, the CIA has been flying spy drones over Mexico, perhaps laying the groundwork for a strike. 'It would probably be drone strikes rather than boots on the ground, but that could invite boots on the ground later, especially if the cartels decide to respond in kind,' says Sanho Tree of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. 'The Zetas [cartel] would murder their rivals and hang their bodies from bridges with signs saying 'this is what happens if you oppose us.' Imagine if the cartels started doing that with the thousands of US nationals – expats, retirees, corporate executives or embassy officials – that are in Mexico. Jimmy Carter lost his election in 1980 because of the 50 plus American hostages in Tehran. Imagine if they took hostages in Mexico and started sending back a finger or a limb each week.' This won't be the first time Trump has let loose the dogs of war on drug peddlers, blowing apart the Taliban's heroin labs with warplanes in his first term. And yet, two decades of occupation failed to dislodge Afghanistan as the number one smack producer in the world. 'They're using a military solution to an economic problem,' said Tree. 'If you're fighting terrorists, they have a political objective and a command structure so they can order their footsoldiers to stand down and lay down their weapons. If you apply this strategy to drug cartels, you're actually making the drugs more valuable. You're amplifying the motivational feedback loop of the people you're trying to stop. So the question becomes then not if you're going to continue making money smuggling drugs, but how much money are you going to make? There's no command structure of the international drug economy that says OK everyone, surrender now, we've had enough.' The potential for collateral damage is high. Tree pointed to US-sponsored counternarcotics efforts in Peru, where the army shot down suspected narco planes in the jungle. That practice ended after the Peruvians accidentally downed an aircraft carrying an American missionary and her daughter. Then there's Mexico's fierce patriotism to consider. One origin story for the word 'gringo', as Mexicans call Yanks, dates back to the 1846-48 Mexican-American war, when American soldiers marched past crowds of Mexicans on the street chanting 'green, go home!' 'Mexican nationalism is largely defined in opposition to its powerful northern neighbour,' explained Gunson. 'The Mexican government has made it clear that it would never give permission for any form of military action by the US on Mexican soil. If Trump were to go ahead despite Mexico's refusal it would bring about the most severe crisis in US-Mexican relations in living memory, with repercussions throughout the region and beyond.' Another possibility is striking Mexican cartels' affiliates in third countries such as Ecuador, where Blackwater chief Erik Prince has been spotted tagging along on drug busts. The situation with Venezuela is somewhat different. The US has directly accused Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro of running drugs through the Cartel of the Suns, and the Tren de Aragua gang of carrying out hits on his behalf, such as the murder of dissident Ronald Ojeda in Chile. 'There are two competing foreign policy factions wrangling over Venezuela within the Trump administration,' Gunson explained. 'The faction led by Marco Rubio favours 'maximum pressure' to force Maduro from power, while that led by special envoy Ric Grenell is focused on extracting advantages for the US regardless of who is in power in Caracas. Trump is much closer to the Grenell line, and much of the rhetoric about Maduro's alleged links to drug trafficking and terrorism is designed to enable the hardliners to keep their constituents happy, rather than indicating any genuine intention to move against the Venezuelan government. While the Maduro government is indeed corrupt and there are high-ranking Venezuelan officials linked to organised crime, the allegations themselves are overblown.' For now, however, the criminals are not too concerned. 'I don't think so about Trump invading Mexico,' said a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. 'Is not so easy as he says.'
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Tourist 'taking selfie' plunges from church in Athens after being 'swept by winds'
The man is believed to have been taking a selfie at the Agios Georgios church on Lycabettus Hil, Athens' highest point, when he was knocked over by 'strong winds' A tourist has been rushed to hospital after he plunged from a church at the top of Athens' highest point after being 'swept by winds' while taking a selfie. The incident unfolded at the Agios Georgios church on Lycabettus Hill yesterday morning. The man, reportedly aged between 25 and 30, was said to be taking a photograph when he fell from the edge of the church courtyard onto rocks and stone-paved steps below. Police, a motorcycle unit and ambulance crews attended the scene and the man was taken to hospital, where he remains in a stable condition. Agios Georgios - a popular landmark in the Greek capital - was closed to visitors yesterday in the aftermath of the incident. It comes after a mum a left 16-month-old home alone to die when she went on holiday. One eyewitness told Newsbomb : 'A tourist woman came and told us that a man had fallen onto the landing and asked us to call EKAB. We stayed with him until the rescuers arrived. They took him away conscious and transferred him to the hospital.' Another said 'He was sitting on the ledge outside the church, and people saw him fall. I wasn't there at the moment—it was a tourist who told me. I went and saw him lying there, bleeding. It was a bit hard to watch.' The man was said to be "conscious" and "blinking his eyes" when the ambulance arrived, according to witnesses. It is only the latest injury said to be linked to selfie-taking. In May, an American tourist was left seriously injured after impaling himself on a metal fence whilst taking a selfie at Rome's Colosseum. The man, a US citizen living in Taiwan, had climbed up one of the railings between the Colosseum's seven-metre long arches but slipped and fell onto a sharp metal spike, which pierced his spine - leaving him dangling from the fence screaming until he fell unconscious.
