How Al-Shabaab can be defeated in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Al-Qaeda linked group, the Al-Shabaab can be defeated in Somalia should the International Community emphasize on development agenda, Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] chief Gen. Robert Kibochi has said, noting that "it's not too late".

The Al-Shabaab militants still control large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia and have over the years attacked military bases, government offices besides targeting innocent civilians. Thousands of people have been killed in the process.

But Gen. Kibochi notes that there have been considerable gains in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants due to concerted effort by the African Union Mission Forces [AMISOM] in the Horn of Africa nation. He said economic and social development is necessary to deter the militia group from signing up new recruits and making a comeback.

“Have we gotten to the main stage? Not yet. The reason is what has happened is that we have been applying a kinetic force where we are hitting the enemy, what needs to be done is bring in development. People in the area need to see development coming in, schools reopening and children going to school so you can dry the pool where the Al-Shabaab recruits from,” Kibochi told Citizen TV on Wednesday.

“We need to bring in social development into this space so that we can open up the country, open up the roads and get the infrastructure in place so that we can get to a point where the Somali security forces can take over from us.”

According to him, the development agenda proved worthwhile in Sierra Leone during the civil war which left thousands of people dead. KDF played an important role during the peacekeeping mission in the West Africa nation.

“The same thing happened in Sierra Leone, we went there to liberate the place but development came into play later and the country is now thriving,” he said.

Kibochi similarly insisted that despite the AMISOM forces scheduled to go for restructuring, the forces will continue helping in the fight against Al-Shabaab and they will prove vital in the complete liberation of Somalia.

Kenya joined the multinational defense forces group in 2012 after successfully completing operation Linda Nchi in Somalia in October 2011.

“There is a debate coming up at the security council that is looking at how AMISOM can be reconfigured and our thinking has always been that now that we have been able to degrade the threat it is time for us to bring in other dimensions we need to bring in the economic dimension. There are no threats in Kismayu because of AMISOM,” Kibochi added.

With threats of terrorism constantly changing, the General insisted that KDF’s recently unveiled strategic communications department coupled with battle experience will prove vital in preparing the army in tackling new terror threats.

“Strategic communications is not really a new direction, it is a path that many modern defense forces are taking because warfare has changed dramatically because of technology advancements,” he said.

“Information is one of the elements of national power together with diplomacy, military, and economics, and therefore for the KDF to be relevant in modern warfare we have had to think how to develop our capability and this is a capability that allows us to sharpen our arrowhead to be able to fight.”

GAROWE ONLINE