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Army chiefs plot attack on Kismayu
[Daily Nation (Kenya)]  Top commanders of the reshaped African Union...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia (Amisom) have been meeting in Nairobi to approve war plans for a massive air, land and sea assault on Kismayu, the last stronghold of Somali terrorist group, Al-Shabaab ... the successor to the Islamic Courts... The Nairobi meeting at the weekend was followed by another of regional army chiefs on Monday in Addis Ababa. But as war plans were being made, the United Nations ...An organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... issued a report warning that an Al-Shabaab support network based in Nairobi "has continued to operate from Kenya with relative freedom" as it plans terror attacks inside Kenya. Field commanders from the Kenya, Uganda and Burundi contingents presented to the Amisom central command on Saturday at the Department of Defence in Nairobi the final plans to capture Kismayu from Al-Qaeda backed Somali beturbanned goons. Military sources told the Nation that the plan later presented to all regional army chiefs -- of Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Æthiopia and Djbouti in the Æthiopian capital, Addis Ababa on Monday -- includes use of air and naval strikes to back up the ground troops. The commanders are due for a series of meeting in Nairobi this week to finalise the plans, military sources told the Nation on Tuesday. The Saturday meeting at the Department of Defence headquarters, Nairobi, was attended by Maj Gen S.N. Karanja, Kenya Air Force commander, Maj-Gen Jeffo Otieno, Military Intelligence Corp boss, Maj-Gen Peter Kameru, all from Kenya, Burundi's Brig Gen Audace Nduwumunsi, officers from the Ugandan Air Force. Field commanders of Kenyan forces in Somalia and officers commanding the Ugandan contingent in Mogadishu made presentations. At the Addis Ababa meeting were the chairman of the AU Commission for Somalia, Ambassador Boubacar Diarra, Amisom Force Commander, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti, Deputy Amisom commanders Maj Gen Karanja and Brig Gen Nduwumunsi, Chief of Kenya Defence Forces, Gen Julius Karangi, Chief of Defence Forces Uganda, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, the heads of the Burundian and Djbouti militaries, Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia Augustine Mahiga and other top military generals from the region. New Amisom spokesperson Eloi Yao on Tuesday confirmed the regional chiefs had met in Addis Ababa on Monday but said details of the meeting, which looked at the new Amisom structure in Somali, were not yet available. Posted by: Fred 2012-07-25 |
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