There are ways in which Africa can defeat the murderous al Shabaab

When Internal Security minister George Saitoti visited Israel early this year, he expressed concern over increasing threat to Kenya and other African countries from radical Islamists.

His Israeli counterpart, Mr Yitzhak Aharonovich, told him that one effective way Israel has applied to contain Hamas is through erecting a security wall along the Gaza border.

A hi-tech security fence along the 682-km long Kenyan-Somalia border would do much to stem the entry of terrorists, explosives and contraband. Going by conservative Israeli estimates, the cost would be $2 million per kilometre.

The total cost to the Kenyan taxpayer would therefore be way over the projected African Union mission to Somalia’s budget of $1 billion.

Away from the glare of the cameras, Prof Saitoti might have learnt of less expensive alternatives. At the time the minister was in Israel, the world was learning of the assassination of a Hamas high commander in Dubai.

That extremist factions in Gaza now openly question the wisdom of Hamas leadership attests to what a blow the terrorist group was dealt.

Such a method could have been very effective in neutralising Fazul Abdul Mohammed in Runda, Mombasa or Madagascar — places the local press reported he had been sighted. He slipped through, and it is now believed he is the chief of operations for al Shabaab.

The bulwark of defence against terrorism in Israel lies, however, not just within the docket of the Ministry of Internal Security but also of the Ministry of Defence.

The Gaza naval blockade has severely crippled the capacity of extremists, for without rockets, Hamas youths can only hurl stones that bounce off Israeli tanks. A military blockade of Somalia would enhance the security of Kenya and the rest of East Africa.

If Kenya is unable to do it alone, it is time the USA Africa Command, currently in Germany, transferred to the Kenyan coast and lent a hand. The USA is unlikely to object to this as they have been angling since the Bush tenure to find an African base for their operations.

A foothold in Kenya would enable the US army to more effectively launch drone strikes against an Al Qaeda leadership who are our common enemies. Furthermore the piracy menace would be more efficiently countered, as would illicit waste-dumping and fishing in the Indian Ocean.

To return to the Israeli counter-terrorism approach, their most effective and devastating military manoeuvre is one that did not attract much commentary in the East African press.

Operation Cast Lead was a 22-day manoeuvre that ended on January 18, 2009. According to the comments attributed to the Israeli Defence Force and reproduced in Wikipedia, within 220 seconds of the opening wave of the operation, 100 targets comprising militant headquarters, training bases, and weapon depots were destroyed.

The rest of the days were used for mopping up operations and disabling the flow of weapons, ominously from African conduits. There were minimal casualties on the Israeli side, but regrettably a high number of innocents were killed as militants used human shields and stored arms in mosques and schools.

This week, it has been reported that Uganda will ask the African Union to send 20,000 troops to dismantle al Shabaab in Somalia. This number may not be sufficient as al Shabaab contains Afghanistan veterans experienced in warfare.