Uhuru takes tough stance as UN warns of increased Shabaab threat

The government will take decisive action against all those engaging in terror activities, President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned.

The President said he was pained by the actions of criminals who opened fired on worshippers in a Mombasa Church on Sunday. (READ: Terror attack in Mombasa church)

“Your days are numbered and we will come for you,” he said during a stop-over along the Nairobi-Namanga road on his way to Arusha.

He added that criminals would not be allowed to hide under the umbrella of religion to harm Kenyans.

“Those who think they can use religion to kill and cause divisions I tell them, not in Kenya. Let them look for another country,” he said.

MORE ACTIVE

This comes as the United Nations issued an alert of increased threat of attacks from the Shabaab as a major offensive launched against them this month gathers pace.

"Coinciding with the offensive and even ahead of it, Al-Shabaab have become more active," UN envoy to Somalia, Nicholas Kay, told AFP.

"They feel threatened and endangered, and so they have carried out significantly more terrorist attacks in Mogadishu in the last couple of months."

UN-mandated African Union troops have been battling Shabaab militants in Somalia since 2007, but earlier this month launched a fresh offensive, fighting alongside Somali government forces.

FLEE TO BIGGER CITIES

Kay said the operation is pushing the rebels out of key bases, which could prompt them to stage attacks in Mogadishu, as well as other countries in the region such as Uganda and Kenya.

Security sources report some Shabaab members are fleeing to mountains in northern Somalia's Puntland region, but some foreign fighters may seek to cross to Yemen, or flee southwards into neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya.

"They're fleeing into the bigger cities, there are more of them entering Mogadishu," Kay added.

"Some of them are looking to flee perhaps the country and are heading to the remoter corners," he said, speaking after an AU peace and security council meeting in the Ethiopian capital.

LACK HELICOPTERS

Shabaab gunmen have largely fled ahead of the AU advance, only to later stage guerrilla attacks.

But the Islamists have also vowed to retaliate against the troop-contributing nations, with soldiers in the 21,000-strong force coming from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

In Kenya, where the Shabaab claimed responsibility for the massacre of at least 67 people six months ago in Nairobi's Westgate mall, police last week arrested two men driving a vehicle packed with explosives in the port city of Mombasa.

In Uganda, where the Shabaab killed at least 76 people in the capital Kampala in 2010, officials warned last week of Shebab plans to use fuel tankers as bombs.

Kay said the size of the mission was sufficient for the time being, but was in dire need of helicopters. The UN has authorised and funded helicopters, but AU member states have failed to provide them.

"What is needed, and has been needed for a long time, are helicopters," Kay said. "It is up to African Union member states to come forward with transport and attack helicopters."