By Andrew Ross
NAIROBI, Kenya
Residents of Kenya's northeastern town of Garissa launched Saturday an 800-kilometer "peace walk" to Mandera, a neighbouring county, in protest against al-Shabaab violence across the Kenya-Somali border.
According to one of the organizers, Salah Abdi, the walk is estimated to take 30 days.
"We are tired of the state of insecurity in Garissa, that is why thousands turned up for this peace walk," Abdi said.
Residents of Kenya’s northeast region have not known peace since Kenya sent its forces to Somalia in 2011 to help fight al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliated militant group.
Al-Shabaab have been making their way through the porous Kenya-Somalia border and carrying out attacks on Kenyan soil ever since.
The first stop for the militants has been Kenya's northeastern Garissa town, which since 2011 has been featured in local and international news for terror related stories: from frequent grenade attacks in residential areas to the recent attack on a Kenyan university where they killed 148 people -- mostly students -- and injured more than 100 others.
Before the Garissa University massacre, al-Shabaab’s bloodiest attack on Kenyan soil was the September 2013 Westgate attack that claimed the lives of 69 people.
The group has promised to carry out more attacks in Kenya as long as the East African country maintains a military presence in Somalia.
"Kenyans coming in unison will show the government and the international community that we seriously need help in the northeastern region," Abdi said.
"We will pass every village educating the communities on the importance of peaceful coexistence," he added.
