Sunday, August 11, 2013
KISMAYU, Somalia, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A former Kenyan official says his country's troops in Somalia were there to act as peacekeepers and not take sides in clan violence.
Former defense minister Yusuf Haji told Shabelle radio Kenyan troops from the AMISOM peacekeeping mission were not involved in recent clashes among warring clans in the city of Kismayo
Kenya, he said, was focused on countering al-Shabaab militants from attacking Somali civilians.
"We sent the troops to aid the federal government in crushing out al-Shabaab and not to side with fighting clans; the Kenyan government is ready to help the federal government in every possible way," Haji said.
Shabelle said some Somali leaders and human rights activists have accused Kenyan forces of supporting the militia of the Raskambini clan in its fight with rival groups in Kismayo
Source: UPI