Uhuru rules out US airstrikes against Al-Shabaab in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya is not privy to plans by the US army to conduct drone strikes in her territory, President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Thursday, just a few days after the reports emerged, with the move now set to ignore possible conflicts between the two traditional allies, who have often cooperated in the fight against terror.

In an interview with France 24 channel during his three days trip, Uhuru denied knowledge of such plans, adding that even in the event such a request was put forth, it would be "untenable" since it was absolutely "unnecessary". The Kenyan leader was in France for bilateral talks with French authorities.

The US army has been helping its East Africa allies through the US Africa Command in the fight against Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants, who have wreaked chaos across the region for the past 14 years. The group targets security forces, government officials, and civilians in its cowardly attacks mainly using IEDs and VBIEDs.

And with this progress, the New York Times reported, the US Africa Command through the Department of Defense has made a request to be allowed to carry airstrikes in northeastern and coastal Kenya, something which could significantly boost the fight against the militants.

The new authorities, which must still be approved by Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and then President Trump, do not necessarily mean the United States will start carrying out drone attacks in Kenya. Nevertheless, they would give Africa Command permission under certain circumstances to expand the counterterrorism drone war into another country.

The push for the expanded authorities traces back to a Shabab attack in January on a military base in Kenya that housed United States troops, the officials said. The attack on the airfield at Manda Bay killed three Americans and caused millions of dollars in damage, NYT added.

But the Kenyan president 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."

At Manda Airfield in January, the Al-Shabaab militants managed to sneak to Kenya and wage an ambush at the American base, leaving three Americans dead. The 5-hour siege, which was the first successful attack in such a base within Africa, left at least five militants dead and has since shaped America's strategy in the fight against terror.

Bashir Qorgab, who was one of the architects of the attack, was traced in Saakow town within Somalia, after having engineered the attack at Manda Airfield, and was eliminated through a drone strike in February this year. The militants have often sneaked into Kenya due to the porous border of the region.

Col. Christopher P. Karns, the command’s chief spokesman, declined to comment on the new authorities. “Africom certainly recognizes the need to apply consistent international pressure on Al-Shabab and to monitor their activity, presence, and actively confront them in order to prevent their spread,” he said in an email. “This can take several forms.”

Lt. Col. Anton T. Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman, added in an email, “The U.S. military will defend U.S. personnel, citizens and homeland as necessary anywhere in the world.” He also did not address the new guidelines, added the NYT in the report.

On Thursday, the US Africa Command ranked Al-Shabaab as a dangerous outfit against her citizens and allies in a statement that was released by General Stephen Townsend, who is the commander of the outfit. The US, he insisted, will continue assisting Somalia in the fight.

Barely a fortnight ago, the militants raided a US army outpost known as Janaa Abdalla about 60 KM West of Kismayo, in an attack which left at least two Danab soldiers dead. According to the Command, a US serviceman was injured, and Al-Shabaab announced that the troops have since abandoned the area.

“Al Shabab remained intent on and capable of conducting attacks inside Kenya and along the Somalia-Kenya border, consistent with its stated intent to compel Kenyan forces to withdraw from Somalia,” an interagency inspectors general report released on Sept. 1 concluded.

Since January, Al-Shabaab has executed close to 20 attacks in northeastern and coastal regions of Kenya, leaving over 30 Kenyans mainly security forces dead. In fact, the government of Kenya withdrew non-local teachers from northeastern and Lamu early this year, further causing an education crisis since the militants have been targeting this particular group.

A furious President Uhuru Kenyatta had early this year summoned local leadership from the region and tasked them to help security forces identify Al-Shabaab operatives, arguing that "the attacks can't happen without your knowledge". Since then, several militants have either been killed or captured by Special Forces from the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF].

Across the border, the KDF team has intensified raids against the Al-Shabaab especially in Gedo and Lower Jubba regions, recording significant progress including but not limited to liberating strategic towns such as Kismayo. There are close to 3,500 KDF soldiers in Somalia who joined AMISOM in 2012, a year just into the Operation Linda Nchi.

Despite the gains, the troops have also suffered casualties, particularly in El-Adde and Kulbiyow, where the militants killed close to 300 soldiers in 2016 and 2017 respectively. But since then, the forces have managed to secure Sectors II and VI, besides helping to restore normalcy in Jubaland.

And Uhuru noted that despite the robust process to strategically withdraw the KDF troops from Somalia, such a decision can only be arrived at "when all partners agree". He remained non-committal when pressed to give the exact date for withdrawal even with the fact that all AMISOM troops are expected to leave in 2021 once the Somali Transition Plan [STP] is fully implemented.

"There are attacks but this hasn't affected the relationship with Somalia because it's basically Al-Shabaab. KDF will stay there working together with AMISOM and international community until such a time we all agree to leave, it's impossible to say for now," noted Uhuru, whose term expires in 2022 as Kenya's president.

The announcement by the US could significantly boost KDF, which would move closer to the Kenya-Somalia border, where they will be monitoring the militants once they withdraw from Somalia. The KDF team carried airstrikes along the border and deep into the Gedo region in April this year, but the move was met with resistance by the Federal Government of Somalia, which claimed that civilians were targeted in the raids.

Since January, the US has executed 46 airstrikes in Somalia mainly targeting central and southern Somalia where the militants still control several villages. The militants have killed over 5,000 civilians since 2008 and Kenya is one of the neighbors which has borne the brunt of the cowardly attacks.

GAROWE ONLINE