NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya is not familiar with plans by the US military to carry out drone strikes on its territory, President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Thursday, just days after reports surfaced, with the transition now set to ignore possible conflicts between the two traditional allies, which have often cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
In an interview with the France 24 channel during his three-day trip, Uhuru denied knowledge of such plans, adding that even in the event that such a request was made, it would be “untenable” as it was absolutely “unnecessary”. The Kenyan leader was in France for bilateral talks with French authorities.
The U.S. military has helped its East African allies through the U.S.-African command in the fight against Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants that have wreaked havoc across the region for the past 14 years. The group targets security forces, officials and civilians in its cowardly attacks, mainly using IEDs and VBIEDs.
And with this progress, the New York Times reported, the U.S.-African Command, through the Department of Defense, has made a request to be allowed to carry out air strikes in northeastern and coastal Kenya, something that could significantly increase the fight against the militants.
The new authorities, which still need to be approved by Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper and then President Trump, do not necessarily mean that the United States will start carrying out drone strikes in Kenya. Nevertheless, they would give Africa Command permission under certain circumstances to extend the war on terrorism drone to another country.
Pushed for the expanded authorities trace back to a Shabab attack in January on a military base in Kenya that housed U.S. troops, officials said. The attack at the airport at Manda Bay killed three Americans and caused millions of dollars in damage, the NYT added.
But the Kenyan president insisted that the United States has never asked to launch air strikes in the Northern Frontier District [NFDs] and the coastal strip, which has mainly witnessed increasing attacks by Al-Shabaab. Ih, Uhuru remarked, was completely “unnecessary” since the militants do not have bases in Kenya.
“There is no such situation. We are at the level we have terrorist attacks, but we do not have terrorist bases inside Kenya. The United States has never even asked for authority to launch even this drone attack in Kenya,” Uhuru said, arguing that the main Al-Shabaab bases are located in Somalia.
Over the past two years, he has added that Kenya has worked closely with international partners to combat attacks on its territory. Through such cooperation, he said the militants have been significantly dismantled and can no longer carry out successful attacks within the East African nation.
The last major attack was carried out by the militants in 2018 at the Dusit D2 Hotel in Nairobi, Uhuru acknowledged, arguing that sustained security demonstrates Kenya’s ability to fight terrorism. Since 2018, however, the group has managed to carry out successful sporadic attacks in the northeastern part and the coastal strip.
“We do not 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 have never had a major incident since the Dusit D2 Hotel raid.”
At Manda Airfield in January, al-Shabaab militants managed to sneak into Kenya and ambush the U.S. base, leaving three Americans dead. The 5-hour siege, which was the first successful attack in such a base in Africa, left at least five militants dead and has since shaped America’s strategy in the fight against terrorism.
Bashir Qorgab, one of the architects of the attack, was tracked down in Saakow city in Somalia after constructing the attack on Manda Airfield and was eliminated through a drone strike in February this year. The militants have often sneaked into Kenya because of the porous border in the region.
Colonel Christopher P. Karns, commander-in-chief of the command, declined to comment on the new authorities. “Africom certainly recognizes the need to apply consistent international pressure on Al-Shabab and monitor their activity, presence and actively confront them to prevent proliferation,” he said in an email. “This can take several forms.”
Lieutenant Anton T. Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman, added in an email: “The U.S. military will defend U.S. personnel, citizens, and homeland as needed anywhere in the world.” He also did not address the new guidelines, NYT added in the report.
On Thursday, the U.S.-African command Al-Shabaab ranked as a dangerous garment against its citizens and allies in a statement released by General Stephen Townsend, who is commander of the garment. The United States insisted it would continue to help Somalia in the fight.
Barely two weeks ago, militants looted a U.S. Army outpost known as Janaa Abdalla about 60 km west of Kismayo in an attack that left at least two Danab soldiers dead. According to the command, a US soldier was wounded and Al-Shabaab announced that the troops have since left the area.
“Al Shabab remained targeted and able to carry out attacks inside Kenya and along the border between Somalia and Kenya, in line with its stated intention to force Kenyan forces to withdraw from Somalia,” a report between the various bodies concluded. inspectors published on September 1.
Since January, al-Shabaab has carried out close to 20 attacks in the northeastern and coastal regions of Kenya, leaving more than 30 Kenyans, mostly security forces, dead. In fact, the Kenyan government withdrew non-local teachers from the Northeast and Lamu earlier this year, further causing an education crisis as the militants have targeted this particular group.
An outraged President Uhuru Kenyatta had convened local leadership from the region earlier this year and tasked them with helping security forces identify Al-Shabaab agents, arguing that “the attacks cannot happen without your knowledge”. Since then, several militants have been killed or captured by special forces of the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF].
Across the border, the KDF team has intensified raids on Al-Shabaab, particularly in the Gedo and Lower Jubba regions, and recorded significant progress, including but not limited to liberating strategic cities such as Kismayo. There are close to 3,500 KDF soldiers in Somalia who joined AMISOM in 2012, a year right into Operation Linda Nchi.
Despite the gains, the troops have also suffered casualties, especially 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 Sector II and VI in addition to helping restore the normality of Jubaland.
And Uhuru noted that despite the robust process of strategic withdrawal of KDF troops from Somalia, such a decision can only be reached “when all partners agree”. He remained non-committal as he was pressured to give the exact date of withdrawal, even with the fact that all AMISOM troops are expected to leave in 2021 when the Somali transition plan is [STP] is fully implemented.
“There are attacks, but this has not affected relations with Somalia, because it is basically Al-Shabaab. KDF will remain there and work with AMISOM and the international community until such a time that we all agree to leave it. is impossible to say for now, “noted Uhuru, whose term expires in 2022 as Kenya’s president.
The announcement from the United States could significantly increase the KDF, which would come closer to the border between Kenya and Somalia, where they will monitor the militants as they withdraw from Somalia. The KDF team carried out airstrikes along the border and deep into the Gedo region in April this year, but the movement was met with opposition from the federal government in Somalia, which claimed that civilians were targeting the raids.
Since January, the United States has carried out 46 airstrikes in Somalia, mainly targeting central and southern Somalia, where the militants are still controlling several villages. The militants have killed over 5,000 civilians since 2008, and Kenya is one of the neighbors that has borne the brunt of the cowardly attacks.
AXADLETM
