KDF launches airstrikes along Kenya-Somalia border in pursuit for Al-Shabaab

A team of Special Forces from the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] launched a series of airstrikes along the Kenya-Somalia border over the weekend, officials said, in one of the sophisticated operations targeting Al-Shabaab militants.

Coming just a few hours after the unprecedented raid by the militants in Khorof Kharar Police Post, the KDF team bombed possible hideouts in a series of airstrikes, with details about casualties remaining scanty.

On Saturday morning, a group of Al-Shabaab militants had raided the police post before destroying a Safaricom telecommunication mast, in an attack that saw police officers taking refuge in nearby thickets, sources had said.

Thomas Ngeywa, the Wajir Police Commandant told reporters that the raid had targeted the Al-Shabaab, who is believed to have hidden in nearby bushes after the police post raid. It was the first team the KDF team was launching airstrikes within the Kenyan boundaries, he added.

“Our counterparts from the KDF launched aerial strikes against the Shabaab militants at night in response to an earlier attack and we suspect they might have suffered heavy casualties in the process,” he said.

“We, however, can't tell the exact number of the casualties,” he added, who hailed the multi-agency team for working relentlessly to secure the porous Kenya-Somalia border, which has lately seen an influx of suspected militants crossing over to Kenyan side.

During the Saturday's raid, the Al-Qaeda-linked militants also looted an armory and made away with three rifles according to a security official. Initially, authorities had dispelled reports that the weapons were stolen.

The militants are also said to have planted Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] on the Qarsa-Konton route. It is believed that some officers might have sustained injuries after their vehicle ran over an IED.

Both Wajir, Mandera, and Garissa counties have been the battlefield for the militants in recent weeks, which have seen them launch close to 20 attacks within the larger Northern Frontier Districts, forcing thousands of non-local teachers to leave.

A confidential report from the KDF team recently revealed that the militants had closed over to Kenya with plans to launch sustained attacks during the Holy month of Ramadhan. However, it added, such attacks had been foiled due to the heavy presence of security forces in the region.

Besides targeting non-locals, the group has been targeting local security officers attached to the National Police Reservists contingent, who they accuse of "cooperating" with KDF by sharing intelligence about their whereabouts.

Particularly in Garissa, the militants have torched houses belonging to NPRs besides abducting their close family members as part of "punishment" for "working" against their wishes. There have also been reports of raiding villages for food.

Saturday's attack also came amid reports that the group had started imposing forceful taxation among locals in northeastern Kenya due to their dwindling financial fortunes within its territories in Somalia.

A number of local agents have been put on notice, a move which further informed the KDF airstrikes along the border. The attack at a police post happened close to 30 kilometers from the common border with Somalia, further raising fears about the security of locals in the region.

Separately, the KDF also continued with the onslaught against the militants, following the Saturday's operation at Bilis Qooqani, where the team killed three terrorists while rescuing Jubaland forces who had come under Al-Shabaab attack, spokesperson Col. Zipporah Kioko said.

The militants remain significantly degraded despite their ability to wage small to large scale sporadic attacks across East Africa, the US Africa Command had recently said. The group is keen to topple the fragile UN-backed Somalia government.

GAROWE ONLINE