The Kenya Defense Forces are on air offensive with their resumption of bombing Boni Forest which has been a hideout for al-shabaab militants.
Residents living near the forest said that on Sunday, they could hear loud bangs from the forest.
The operation had started few days before the elections but was halted because of the general elections.
On Friday, Linda Boni Operation director Joseph Kanyiri asked residents living near the forest to move away by Sunday.
He said government was bent on eliminating the militiamen who have terrorized parts of Lamu and Tana River Counties.
“I call on locals who are still living inside or near the forest to vacate. The bombing of Al-Shabaab hideouts in the forest will begin anytime soon,” he said as cited by Daily Nation.
“The kind of bombing that will happen will be too hot for anyone to stay inside. I am aware that some herders have for several times been spotted grazing their animals inside Boni forest and its surrounding areas.
We will bomb the forest in a very short while and that’s why we are asking those around to move out. We are coming for the Al-Shabaab with a more serious force than ever before. If you don’t move out, we will bomb you and you won’t blame anyone,” he added.
The Forest was invaded by elite militants from Somalia in 2012 after Kenya sent her soldiers to Somalia.
Since then, Lamu and other coastal towns have been in the eye of fierce terror attacks.
In his last campaign trails in Lamu, President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to deal decisively with al-shabaab in Lamu.