Britain Renews Travel Alert on Kenya over Terror Threats
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Britain expanded its travel alert against travelling to Kenya, which warns of the risks of travel to the East African nation's coastal region for possible terror attacks.
In its advisory which was updated late on Friday, London expanded its travel warning to cover most areas along the coast of Kenya.
"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) now advise against all but essential travel to within 15km of the coast from the Tana River down to Tiwi," reads the warning.
This area includes Mombasa Island, Moi International Airport (including transit through the airport), Malindi, Kilifi and Watamu in the coastal region.
The warning also covers areas within 60 km of the Kenya-Somalia border, Garissa County and the Eastleigh area of Nairobi.
However, there are no travel warnings against any of Kenya's popular safari destinations in the national parks, including Masai Mara, Laikipia and the Aberdare National Park.
"There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping. The main threat comes from extremists linked to Al-Shabaab, a militant group that has carried out attacks in Kenya in response to Kenya's military intervention in Somalia," the advisory reads, Xinhua reported.
A series of terror attacks in June and July 2014 in Lamu and Tana River counties on the Kenyan coast killed at least 90 people. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The latest warnings by Australia and now Britain came barely a week after Uganda was warned of possible attacks in places frequented by foreigners.
"There is a high threat from terrorism. We are aware of recent alerts concerning possible threats to locations in Kampala, including hotels. You should continue to be vigilant at all times, exercise extreme caution and closely monitor this travel advice," FCO said.
The warning also came after Kenyan leaders appealed to the international community not to issue travel advisories against Kenya, but work with the government to ensure return to normalcy.
Kenya's tourism suffered a decline in the number of tourists arriving since September 2011 when the Somali militant group, the Al-Shabaab, kidnapped tourists in the Lamu archipelago and the kidnapping of the Spanish volunteers.
