LAMU, Kenya, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed Monday to flush out Al-Shabaab militants who have been killing villagers in the restive Lamu County, saying terrorists will be met with deadly force.
Speaking barely a week after the insurgents killed five people in an attack that left a senior government official injured, Kenyatta pledged to meet fire with fire in the war against terrorists.
"Our citizens are losing their lives. Our security forces are losing their lives. My Principal Secretary was wounded here a few days ago," said Kenyatta who is on a political campaign tour of the Lamu region.
"We have to deal with these terror mongers. I have no apologies to make in taking the tough measures we are taking," he added, while promising to continue with the government's heavy investment in infrastructure to spur prosperity.
The Islamist militants have been attacking the local police posts and set it ablaze schools and dispensaries, killing the villagers at will.
The Al-Shabaab militants have changed tactics and resorted to using IEDs to carry out attacks in parts of Coast and northeast regions, according to police.
More than 30 police officers and over 20 civilians have been killed in terror attacks in the past one month in northeastern Kenya.
In the Lamu towns of Kizingitini and Mpeketoni, and in Garsen in Tana River County, Kenyatta said that security forces had intensified their hunt for terrorists in Boni forest, and he had given directives for them to be pursued wherever they were, and "we shall bury them."
He noted that no one had the right to take away the life of any other person, and that was why he had decided that "fire must be met with fire."
The police say the IED strategically planted along the roads near Kenya Somalia border are slowing down security operations to flush out militants hiding in the vast Boni forest which is near the Somali border, according to commanders involved in the operation.
The areas affected include Bondhei, Pandanguo, Kiunga, Baragoi and Milimani which has claimed several lives in the recent past.
