Two imprisoned for 30 years during the attack on the 2019 Kenya Hotel | Al-Shabab alles

The men provided financial assistance to Al-Shabab fighters who attacked the Dusitd2 complex in Nairobi, killing 21 people.

A Kenyan court sentenced two men to 30 years in prison for helping Al-Shabab fighters who were behind a deadly attack in Nairobi who killed 21 in 2019.

On Thursday, judge Diana Kavedza Mochache ruled that Hussein Mohammed Abdile and Mohamed Abdi Ali played a critical role by helping two of the attackers escaping from a refugee camp using false identity cards. The pair also provided financial assistance to the group.

“Without financiers, facilitators and sympathizers, the terrorists cannot carry out their activities,” said the judge during the conviction, stressing that their support made the attack possible.

“The convicts may not have physically exercised the weapons that caused the victims, but their facilitation directly enabled attackers who were heavily armed with firearms, grenades and suicide vests,” said Kavedza.

“It was not a crime with isolated damage; 21 lives were lost,” she added, recognizing statements of survivors about their current psychological difficulties.

“The emotional scars of the attack are deep,” she said.

Abdile and Ali were found guilty last month to facilitate and plot to commit a “terrorist” act. The two men denied the accusations and now have 14 days to appeal.

Context to attacks

The high market assault DUSITD2 complex In the Kenyan capital began on January 15, 2019, when armed men stormed the complex and opened fire.

The security forces launched an operation that lasted more than 12 hours. The government later announced that all the attackers had been killed.

Al-Shabab, an armed group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, claiming that the aggression was in reprisals For the decision of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Headquarters was the first big attack in Nairobi since the Westgate Mall 2013 massacre, which killed 67 years. In 2015, Al-Shabab also attacked Garissa University, killing 148 people.

From Westgate, high -end sites in the capital have increased security, including vehicle and pedestrian checks.

The Dusitd2 complex, like Westgate, was addressed to rich Kenyans and foreign nationals, often targeted by Al-Shabab.

The group based in Somalia has repeatedly struck in Kenya, aimed at forcing the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from Somalia, where they are part of a regional force fighting against rebellion.