High Alert: Kenya Military Defence Force soldiers aboard a Hummer Vehicle patrol Ras Kiamboni area inside Somalia during the 'Operation Linda Nchi'. PHOTO / JARED NYATAYA
By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, January 4 2012 at 22:00
Posted Wednesday, January 4 2012 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
- Defence forces destroy Islamists’ Fafadun base in latest attack
Kenyan forces have killed a top Al-Shabaab commander and captured one more town in the latest onslaught on the militants’ strongholds in southern Somalia.
The Kenya Defence Forces, assisted by Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) fighters stormed the Al-Shabaab stronghold of Fafadun on Tuesday evening and destroyed the militants’ base in a fierce exchange of fire.
Three Al-Shabaab fighters including one of the commanders in charge of the Gedo region identified as Sheikh Hassan Hussein were killed, Kenya military spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir reported in social media.
“Out of the engagement three Al-Shabaab killed, two AK-47, three Browning pistols and three HF radios captured. One KDF slightly injured,” Maj Chirchir tweeted.
In a subsequent interview, Maj Chirchir explained that the capture of Fafadun was vital as it was one of the few remaining Al-Shabaab bases in southern and central Somalia.
“With the capture of Fafadun, the KDF, TFG and Ethiopian troops now control 90 per cent of the Gedo region,” he told the Nation.
Besides pockets of the capital Mogadishu, the Al-Shabaab mainly operate in the Gedo region where they have imposed a strict version of the Sharia (Islamic) law.
Maj Chirchir maintained that KDF’s ultimate aim was to capture the port town of Kismayu and kick out the militants.
The capture of Kismayu will effectively deny the militants of the billions of shillings they collect in illegal taxes to fund their bloody insurgency in the Horn of Africa.
“We will eventually go to Kismayu because its capture is very important to our overall strategy but in terms of when, I cannot tell,” he said.
He stated that the injured KDF soldier had been treated.
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