They are said to have discussed changing the curriculum at private schools to favour the Islamist group’s ideology.

Each of the principals is responsible for around 1,000 students, ranging in age from seven to 15.

Al-Shabab has been waging a war against Somalia’s federal government for the last 10 years.

Mahad Hassan Osman, the information minister for the central Hir-Shabelle region, told the BBC’s Somali service that the teachers had been intercepted and arrested near the town of Jowhar.

”We arrested them 15km outside the town.

“They were attempting to change the school’s curriculum to suit what the group believes in, which is the implementation of strict Islamic law.”

The minister has said the teachers will be taken to court once an investigation has taken place.

Al-Shabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda, has been pushed out of Somalia’s main towns but still controls many rural areas.

The militant group launched its own curriculum in April, and produces school textbooks reflecting its Islamist agenda.

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Source: BBC

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The attack occurred on Saturday in the village of Jima, south-east Kenya, said James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda.

Beheadings by al-Shabaab have been rare in Kenya even as the group has carried out dozens of deadly attacks over the years. Beheadings are not uncommon in Somalia, where the group carries them out on people who are believed to be their enemies and to terrorise local populations.

Kenya has seen an increase in attacks claimed by al-Shabaab in recent weeks, posing a security threat before next month’s presidential election. Al-Shabaab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops in 2011 to Somalia to fight the group, which became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa last year.

Saturday’s attack occurred in the Pandaguo area of Lamu county, where al-Shabaab fighters engaged security agencies in a day-long battle three days ago. A police report said about 15 al-Shabaab fighters attacked Jima and seized men, killing them with knives.

In recent months al-Shabaab has increased attacks in Kenya with homemade bombs, killing at least 46 people in Lamu and Mandera counties.

The increase in attacks presents a huge problem for Kenya’s security agencies before the presidential election on 8 August, said Andrew Franklin, a security analyst. On election day security agencies will be strained while attempting to stop any possible violence and al-Shabaab could take advantage, he said.

There was no immediate government comment on the latest attack. The acting interior minister, Fred Matiangi, issued a dusk-to-dawn curfew for parts of Garissa, Tana River and Lamu counties. Mandera county was already under a curfew following earlier al-Shabaab attacks. All are close to the Somali border.

The president, Uhuru Kenyatta, has not issued any statement on the recent surge in al-Shabaab attacks.

Kenya is among five countries contributing troops to an African Union force that is bolstering Somalia’s fragile central government against al-Shabaab’s insurgency. Of those countries, Kenya has borne the brunt of retaliatory attacks.

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Source: Guardian UK

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