A young British man was among those killed in a botched raid by al-Shabaab fighters on a Kenyan army base at the weekend.
Thomas Evans, a 25-year-old from the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe who went by the name of Abdul Hakim after converting to Islam, was among the dead fighters judging by photographic evidence, said Colonel David Obonyo, a spokesman for the Kenyan military.
Up to 100 al-Shabaab fighters are thought to have walked across the border into Kenya, but the pre-dawn raid on the army base at Baure, in Lamu county, encountered unexpectedly fierce resistance.
Evans – one of around 50 British jihadists who are believed to have travelled to Somalia to fight for al-Shabaab – is thought to be among three Western men who featured in a March 2015 video by the militants showing the preparations for the offensive on Mpeketoni last year and the attack itself. Eyewitnesses at the time reported seeing a white man in command speaking fluent English and some Arabic.
