Hiiraan Online
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Kenyan Soldiers in Somalia
MOGADISHU (HOL) – As the sun started to rise on Friday morning, a speeding suicide car bomb rammed the gates of the African Union force’s base in El-Adde, a small town near Kenya border followed by a gunfight by heavily armed Al-Shabaab militants who blasted their way into base.
The brazen attack on base protected by blast walls and sandbags proved success for the Al-Qaeda linked militant group as they overrun the base, after killing ‘dozens’ of AU soldiers from the neighboring Kenya.
The attack launched by the group proved its relevance amid losses of key strongholds to the allied African Union and Somali troops who have seized most of Al-Shabab’s strongholds, leaving the group in control of poor villages and rural areas.
According to military experts, stalling the offensive has awarded the once ‘dying’ militant group to reorganize and launch audacious attacks, mostly targeting African Union forces.
The complex assault showed the group’s deepening reach and its rising sophistication to plan ‘successful’ attacks against better-equipped and funded forces.
“It bore some resemblance to other similar attacks on AU bases last year.” said Hussein Sheikh Ali, a retired Somali military general.
“It showed meticulous planning, time frame and it certainly seems there’s some kind of gap in intelligence gathering.” the general who worked under Siad Barre’s government said.
Al-Shabab claimed its fighters have seized the base and killed at least 63 Kenyan soldiers in the attack, however, defiant president Uhuru Kenyatta vowed his government would not be cowed by the attacks, and that his army would continue to fulfil its mission in Somalia.
“We will not be cowed by these cowards. With our allies, we will continue in Somalia to fulfill our mission. We will hunt down the criminals involved in today’s events. Our soldiers’ blood will not be shed in vain.” He said in a statement.
However, he confirmed that his army lost soldiers in the attack, without giving more details and termed their loss ‘heart-breaking’.
The rise in more penetrating and deadly attacks by Al-Shabab adds pressure on the African Union to resume the offensive which despite the adoption of the United Nations Security Council 2014 resolution that provided logistical and fund for additional troops deployed in January this year to bolster AMISOM which would enable the joint forces to launch fresh operations.
“In the military world, buying a time for your enemy translates into buying a gun for him to kill you.” said Tom Starks, a security analyst based in Vienna.
“AMISOM sees Al-Shabab as just a rag-tag militia rather than understanding the gravity of their strength. Those they underrated are coming to bite them venomously.” He said.
Al-Shabab’s attack on Kenyan forces didn’t come by surprise, however, the Al-Shabab group which has lost strings of towns and villages including the lucrative port city of Kismayo to Kenyan Defence Forces has long threatened with attacks, besides its deadly major attacks on Westgate and Garissa university.
The group’s guerrilla attacks highlights the expanding challenges as African Union forces struggle to consolidate areas under their to encourage the allied forces to press a fresh offensive against Al-Shabab.
“Staging such well-coordinated attacks makes militants’ threats more potent and insidious than ever.” Starks said.