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| Africa Horn |
| Kenya warns of attacks on Somali towns |
| 2011-11-02 |
| GARISSA, Kenya: Kenya’s military warned the residents of 10 towns in Somalia on Tuesday, including the port city of Kishmayu, Baidoa and Afgoye near the capital Mogadishu, that they “will be under attack continuously.” The fact the towns listed include places well beyond the southern part of Somalia where Kenyan troops are advancing suggests that Kenya may step up airstrikes on other areas where Al-Shabab insurgents have strongholds. Somalia’s Al-Shabab rebels also ambushed a Kenyan military convoy in the south of the Horn of Africa nation on Tuesday, the insurgents, a militia fighting with Kenyan and Somali government troops and a Kenyan security source told Reuters. All three sources told Reuters the ambush happened on the road leading from the Kenyan border town of Liboi toward forward Kenyan troop positions further inside Somalia. Kenyan troops were attacked on the same road last Thursday in the first serious clash with Al-Shabab fighters since pushing into Somalia. Kenya’s military said it killed nine Al-Shabab fighters then and one Kenyan soldier died from his wounds. A Kenyan security source, who declined to be named, said three of its soldiers were wounded in Tuesday’s attack. Mahmud Farah, a spokesman for the pro-Somali government Ras Kamboni militia said no Kenyan soldiers died in the attack. Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for Al-Shabab’s fighters, said they ambushed a Kenyan military convoy between Tabda and Dhobley and killed 10 soldiers. The main objective of Kenyan ground forces is to seize the southern port of Kismayu, as this is a key Al-Shabab stronghold and an important source of funding for the Al-Qaeda-linked militants, and to dismantle the rebel network. “Operation Linda Nchi is on course, advance to Kismayu is on schedule,” Chirchir said. The Kenyan operation is called Linda Nchi, which means “Protect the Nation” in the Swahili language. Other towns listed by the Kenyan Defense Forces spokesman included Buale, Afmadow, Baar Dheere, Dinsoor and Jilib, the place hit by a Kenyan airstrike on Sunday. Chirchir said the Kenyan military had received reliable confirmation that two aircraft had landed in the town of Baidoa with a consignment of arms destined for Al-Shabab. Baidoa, about 270 km northwest of Mogadishu, used to host Somalia’s parliament, before the rebels seized it in early 2009. |
| Posted by:Steve White |