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Kenyan troops kill 18 Al-Shabaab fighters transporting fuel

03 November 2011 19:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Kenya’s Defense Forces (KDF) continued with its cross-border incursion into Somalia where its Navy killed 18 militants after sinking their skiff (small boat) in the Indian Ocean late on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Military Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Al-Shabaab fighters were killed while transporting fuel to Kuday region. "A skiff landed with 18 Al-Shabaab fighters was transporting fuel to Kuday on Wednesday at 5 p.m. local time. The Kenya Navy intercepted the skiff and sunk it killing all the militants," Chirchir said on Thursday.

The Kenyan Defense Force has also warned aircraft over-flying its troops in the three sectors, landing in Baidoa of dire consequences, stressing that they were treating such activity as a security breach. "On two occasions, KDF has observed an aircraft over fly our troops in the three sectors. The owners of the aircraft are hereby warned that KDF considers this as a security violation," Chirchir said. "Further unauthorized over flying on the said region will be considered a threat. In addition, all aircraft are hereby warned not to land in Baidoa. Anyone violating this will be doing so at their peril."

Kenyan soldiers have closed in on a militant-held town in their two week-long effort to push back the extremists blamed for suicide bombings, kidnapping foreigners and killing famine victims.

Kenya’s invasion of southern Somalia on Oct. 16, its largest foreign deployment since independence from Britain, came after Al- Shabaab kidnapped four Europeans in the last six weeks. "We are glad that peace-loving Somali locals heeded our warning to avoid Al-Shabaab camps due to an imminent attack in the target areas," Chirchir said as the east African nation troops prepared for a major offensive against the Al-Qaeda allied militia.

Chirchir said the Horn of Africa nation is recently receiving heavy rainfall making the roads impassable, making the militants to use donkeys to transport their weaponry. "Information reaching us confirms that Al-Shabaab has resorted to using donkeys to transport their weapons. The locals use donkeys to fetch water for domestic use however, due to the heavy rains water fetching is not feasible," Chirchir said.

He said the Kenyan troops will now consider any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys to be an Al-Shabaab activity. "In addition we are also reliably informed that the cost of donkeys has risen from 150 U.S. dollars to 200 dollars for a donkey," Chirchir said.

He advised Kenyans dealing in donkey trade along the Kenya- Somali border not to sell their animals to the insurgents as it would undermine the Kenyan troops efforts in the Horn of Africa nation which has not had an effective central government for more than two decades.

He said the Kenyan troops have managed to considerably reduce Al-Shabaab’s effectiveness and so what they were doing now is trying to build up in targeting these towns but will soldier on to reduce their might.

The Al-Shabaab militant group has been waging a war on the weak Somali interim government for more than five years, but is now facing a battle on two fronts.

The Somali government is being backed by a force of 9,000 African Union peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda, which has pushed the militants out of the capital, while Kenyan forces are advancing in the south.

The country on the horn of Africa has been without an effective government for over 20 years and has recently been struck by widespread famine, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

While the famine has devastated civilian populations, it has also significantly undermined Al-Shabaab, which is said to be suffering internal divisions and is hated by the Somali public for its strict punishments, recruitment of child soldiers and indiscriminate bombings.