The United Nations (UN) office in Kenya has said that they are distressed by recent acts of terror, which are against the international humanitarian law.
“The United Nations Country Team is deeply distressed by the rising cases of terrorist attacks on schools, teachers and learners, especially in the north-eastern regions of Kenya,” read a statement to newsrooms.
It added, “Acts of terror and hate are even more egregious when they target innocent, unarmed civilians including children.” “Key services and programmes, delivered by the government and other partners, for children and communities should not be targets of armed combat,” it said.
UN’s statement comes three days after three non-local teachers were killed in a dawn attack after suspected Al-Shabaab militants raided a school in Garissa County.
The gunmen attacked Kamuthe Resource Centre on Monday morning killing three male teachers.
UN notes that the attack disrupted the school calendar in the affected region as the schools are lagging behind in attendance rates.
The attack has since raised eyebrows on teachers’ safety in the North-Eastern part of Kenya where numerous sporadic attacks have been witnessed.
On Tuesday, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) threatened a massive pull out of teachers from the region if the government does not act on the insecurity issue.
“We recognise that school staff who are traumatised by such incidents face the agonising dilemma of whether they should continue in the job under such threats. Acts of terrorism should not be another reason for the children in those regions to slip further behind,” said UN.
Al-Shabaab has launched a series of attacks since December last year including the daring attack on a joint US-Kenya military base in Lamu.
The Al-Qaeda linked terror group attacked a Lamu bound bus, Mombasa Raha at Nyongoro near Witu town on January 2.
The UN Country Team in Kenya now says it is working closely with the government to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
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