The Defence Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, stated that all the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops deployed to Somalia will be withdrawn completely by December 2024. The officers were deployed to combat the al-Shabaab group based in the region.
The CS appeared before the plenary on Wednesday, conversing about the troops in Somalila. He mentioned that the war against the terrorist group in the region had made significant progress.
The Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) troops. He mentioned the ATMIS would transfer the security responsibilities in the region to the Somali security forces.
The drawdown strategy by the ATMIS under the ‘ Somali transition plan’, began in April 2022 and ought to end in December 2024. This strategy was reached at and mentioned in the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
“Already phase one has been completed where a total of 2,000 ATMIS forces have exited and 400 are from Kenya, 400 from Uganda, 400 from Ethiopia, 600 from Burundi and around 200 from Djibouti,” he said adding that the exit was completed in June 2023.
Phase two is set to start on September 30, 2023 and Kenya expects to withdraw an additional 600 KDF officers from Somalia.
However, Duale said that the second phase is pending approval from the UNSC. Somalia has asked for a three-month extension to allow them time to further reinforce their security forces before more officers are withdrawn. This is to prevent the al-shabaab group from infiltrting the already conquered land.
“This has been paused awaiting the AU and UN decision on a request made by the Somali government for a three-month extension because the Somali security forces have been engaging in a serious war with al-Shabaab in the central part of Somalia. The extension will only succeed if the AU and UNSC approve the plea,” he said.
Kenya’s KDF Intervention in Somalia
IN 2012, Kenya was motivated to infiltrate Somalia after the Al-Shabaab threatened the tourism sector in the country. The terrorist group was also seen recruiting Kenyans into the group.
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After Kenya mentioned their intervention, other East African countries joined the infiltration. This is when the ATMIS was introduced in the region. Countries including Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Djibouti joined the Kenyan officers in Somalia to fight against the terrorist group.
The CS further mentioned that he was confident that the terrorist’s group had its days numbered.
“With ATMIS, AMISOM and international partners I think the days of al-Shabaab in Somalia are coming to an end,” Duale said.
“Today we are seeing that the Somali government has established and generated enough force and today you have seen the presence of Somalia at the forefront of combating terror.”
The fights against the terrosist group was prompted by the attack that happened in Wesgate Mall, Nairobi a few years back. Families were detached and people killed by the attackers in the bulding. After this scenario, the terrorist groups made more threats to other regions in the country including the University in Garissa. Consequently, Kenya too it upon itself to end the threat fromm the group from the source of the war.
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