ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA: Kenya claims Somali rebels are on the run after it deployed more troops to the Horn of Africa country as civilians continue fleeing heavy fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, where al Shabaab militants are

Record ID: 375509

  • Title: ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA: Kenya claims Somali rebels are on the run after it deployed more troops to the Horn of Africa country as civilians continue fleeing heavy fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, where al Shabaab militants are
  • Date: 23rd October 2011
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (OCTOBER 21, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DELEGATES LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOSES WETANGULA, SAYING: "Al Shabaab are definitely on the run. They are also looking weaker and weaker by the day. But when you are fighting your opponents weakness may just turn out to be something else. So you must be alert throughout." D
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia, Somalia
  • City:
  • Country: Somalia Ethiopia
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Y2LZL3F5S85HD8DUDIYE2DX7
  • Story Text: Kenya on Friday (October 21) said Somalia's al Shabaab militants were on the run after it deployed more troops in southern Somalia to secure its border from rebels Nairobi accuses of kidnapping foreigners on its soil.
    Speaking after an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) meeting in Addis Ababa, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said Nairobi was making gains against the insurgents.
    "Al Shabaab are definitely on the run. They are also looking weaker and weaker by the day. But when you are fighting your opponents weakness may just turn out to be something else. So you must be alert throughout," he said.
    Kenya has launched brief cross-border incursions into Somalia after the militants launched an insurgency in 2007 but this operation is on a much larger scale, signalling Nairobi's determination to eradicate the threat to the country.
    "When you are exercising the right to defend your integrity, you don't need to tell anybody, and even if there is no support, that right does not go away. You must exercise it. The defence of your country, the defence of our people and the security of our people in the horn of Africa is primarily the duty of the countries of the IGAD," Wetangula added.
    Kenyan troops stormed the Somali border six days ago to oust the militants who they say have taken several foreigners hostage in recent weeks threatening the country's reputation as a relatively safe investment and tourism destination.
    Witnesses said on Friday that armoured vehicles and trucks carrying weaponry, food supplies and tents were seen leaving four military camps in Isiolo in northern Kenya and heading towards the border.
    Kenya is the latest of Somalia's neighbours to become deeply involved militarily in a country that has not had an effective government for the last 20 years and where al Shabaab's presence has had serious security repercussions on the region.
    But in the capital Mogadishu, the al Qaeda-linked militants have been putting up stiff resistance against African peacekeepers (AMISOM) and government troops, who in August had driven the rebels out of most of the city, forcing residents to flee for their lives.
    "I fled from my home when fighting erupted near my house and I did not get a chance to move yesterday because of fighting. Now we are fleeing to a neighbouring district," said Mohammed Mahmoud, a Mogadishu resident.
    The rebels launched a counter-attack late on Friday in Mogadishu's Daynile district, the scene of a battle on Thursday (October 20) in which AMISOM said at least 10 of its soldiers had been killed.
    Senior Somali and Burundian military officials have also said some soldiers are missing from that battle, indicating the toll could be higher.
    Al Shabaab's spokesperson, Sheikh Ali Rage, said they killed dozens of AMISOM troops and confiscated their weapons which they paraded in front of residents.
    "According to their ID cards which they were carrying we realised that they are Burundi Soldiers, they were with TFG Soldiers. But we don't care about them because every day we see them dead so we did not carry their bodies and no one cares about them, and as you see it here we have got their guns," he said.
    Some 9,000 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda make up AMISOM and the force commander has called for an increase in troops to be able to fully secure Mogadishu.
    Al Shabaab say they have killed more than 70 peacekeepers and displayed their corpses in uniform to journalists on Thursday.
    The AU force dismissed it as propaganda.
    Since being forced out of Mogadishu months ago, the militants have managed to carry out deadly attacks against government institutions, raising concerns about AMISOM's and the Western-backed government's failure to secure the capital.
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