The United States is reportedly preparing a list of targets for possible military strikes in Kenya and some other African countries.
Former US general Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said the strikes are aimed at targeting militants involved in Sunday’s deadly attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi.
Somalia’s Al-Shabab fighters have reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it is in retaliation for Kenya’s military actions inside Somalia.
“They’re developing targets . . . and refining target lists, trying to fill in any gaps that we possibly have,” the former four-star general said during an interview with ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
“Intelligence has been gathered and will continue to be gathered to fill in any holes that we have about what happened in this particular attack and what could happen in the future,” Gen. Chiarelli added.
Chiarelli described the situation “very chaotic” and added that US military officials are “doing all of the kinds of things that you would do to gain information in.”
He, however, refused to elaborate how and with what means the US forces or their allies will target the group’s hideouts in Kenya.
This as Kenyan security sources in Nairobi revealed that Israel has sent its special forces to Kenya to fight with the militants at Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall, according to an AFP report.
The report added that Israeli Commandoes were airlifted to the east African country just after the start of the attack.