More KDF troops deployed near Somalia border amid clashes with SNA

EL WAK, Somalia - More troops from the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] have been deployed along the Kenya-Somalia border near the Gedo region, reports indicate, amid simmering tensions between troops from the two neighboring nations, who have coexisted in harmony for a couple of years now.

The past three weeks have been tough in the region with civilians going to streets in the border town of Balad-Hawo, accusing the KDF team of committing "crimes against humanity" to the people of Somalia. The protests have been frequent, accompanied by calls for the withdrawal of the KDF from Somalia.

Reports indicate that a suspected KDF contingent "abducted" three people within the vicinity of the border town of El-Wak and subsequent killing of another resident under controversial circumstances in Balad-Hawo. The three are yet to be located and it's believed that they were executed.

It's the two incidents which also invoked clashes between the KDF and the Somali National Army [SNA], which was recently deployed to the town. While it's not clear how long the clashes would take, the government of Somalia has written to the African Union Mission in Somalia demanding to know the latest development in the region.

But authorities in Somalia now say more KDF troops have been deployed to Balad-Hawo in Gedo and sections of Border Point One, and they are believed to be planning a major assault. The troops now join their counterparts in sections of Jubaland who have been fighting the Al-Shabaab militants for almost 8 years.

Officials said that the fresh contingent is mainly non-AMISOM troops and are deployed along the fragile border amid rising tensions. This is the first time a non-AMISOM contingent from Kenya is crossing over the Somalia border in pursuit of the Al-Shabaab militants.

Eyewitnesses said the troops were armed to teeth and it's not clear what their immediate mission was. Previously, the SNA troops along the border had accused the Kenyan troops of helping Jubaland security forces to "rebel" against authorities in Somalia, a claim which Kenya has often denied.

The troops are believed to have been deployed from Modika Barracks in Garissa. This comes at the time the US Africa Command is considering possibilities of launching airstrikes in northeastern Kenya and coastal regions, should a proposal to the Department of Defense go through.

But in a recent interview, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta insisted that the US has never made requests to launch airstrikes in Northern Frontier Districts [NFDs] and the coastal strip which have witnessed increasing attacks mainly by Al-Shabaab. The idea, Uhuru noted, was completely "unnecessary" since the militants do not have bases within Kenya.

"There is no such situation. We are at that level we have terrorist incursions but we don't have terrorist bases inside Kenya. The US has never even requested authority to launch even this drone strikes in Kenya," Uhuru said, arguing that the main Al-Shabaab bases are located in Somalia.

Over the last two years, he added, Kenya has worked closely with international partners to combat attacks on her territory. Through such cooperation, he said, the militants have been significantly degraded and can no longer wage successful attacks within the East Africa nation.

The last major attack was waged by the militants in 2018 at the Dusit D2 Hotel in Nairobi, Uhuru acknowledged, arguing that the sustained safety showcases Kenya's ability to combat terror. Since 2018 however, the group has managed to wage successful small-scale sporadic attacks in the northeastern and coastal strip.

"We don't even think this is necessary. The truth of the matter is that Kenya's security forces working with the international partners have greatly reduced incidents of attacks within our borders," he said. "We have made tremendous progress because we've never had a major incident since the Dusit D2 Hotel raid."

GAROWE ONLINE