Wajir (Alshahid) – Four days after the Somalia rebels Alshabab warned Kenya of an attack for “interfering in the affairs of Somalia”, the militia crossed the Kenya border into Wajir district Thursday May 27, 2010 and shot five people seriously injuring them.

This is the fourth attack by al Shabaab,  a militia linked to terror group al Qaeda, on Kenya in the past three years.

They drove into the Dadajabula village, 200km South of Wajir town in Kenya’s North Eastern province, on two pick-up trucks at around midnight and opened fire while the residents were asleep in their Manyattas.

The rebel group’s spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, had earlier made the threat during a pass out parade for fresh fighters in the port city of Kismayu.

 The North Eastern Provincial Commissioner (PC) James ole Seriani says the Somali rebels sped off to Somalia soon after the attack. The PC has sent a team of security officers led by Wajir police Commander George Tonui and the District Commissioner to conduct investigations in the area.

Mr. Seriani said three of those shot had serious injuries and were transferred to Daadab for treatment.

The PC told reporters that the motive for the attack needs deeper investigation since witnesses have given various accounts. Some say cross border business rivalry led to the attack while others claimed the al-Shabaab rebels targeted a family whose members are believed to be sympathetic to Hizbul-Islam, a rival group to Alshabab also fighting to topple the Somalia government.

Kenya’s North Eastern province is predominantly habited by Kenyans of Somali extract practising Islam.

Fardosa Mohamed Adan,17, a student at Dadajubal Primary School was shot through the stomach and her condition is very unstable.

Residents said there were very few armed police at the time of the attack, although after the incident there is heavy deployment of Kenyan security personnel.

In May 2008 the same village was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants after Kenya police arrested three suspected members of Al-Qaeda. They abducted a police officer and took off in a kenyan police vehicle.

In June 2007, Islamist fighters kidnapped two Kenyan policemen and were later found dead.

Al-Shabaab spokesman said recentlyKenya was among Christian (non-Muslim) forces opposing the movement’s Jihad (holy war) against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu.

The rebels and terror groups have on several occasions threatened Kenya, which they accuse of recruiting and training soldiers on behalf of TFG.

A force loyal to Ras Kamboni Brigade, a militia group that recently split from Hizbu Islam, led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is active along the Somalia-Kenya border.