Kenyan troops’ stay in Somalia extended

PHOTO | PSCU Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo addressing the media in Nairobi on December 29, 2013. Kenyan troops will remain in Somalia for one more year after the UN Security Council extended the mandate.  PSCU

In Summary

• “We welcome the extension of the Amisom mandate by one year since the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia has helped to not only weaken Al-Shabaab, but to also liberate key towns,” she said Thursday
• The Defence minister called for cooperation from other countries, saying the war on terror could not be won alone.

By JOHN NJAGI
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Kenyan troops will remain in Somalia for one more year after the UN Security Council extended the mandate.

Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo said the country welcomed the extension of the mandate of the African Union Mission to Somalia and appealed for more help to defeat terrorism.

The Kenya Defence Forces have been helping to liberate Somalia, which has been the theatre and launch pad of Al-Shabaab attacks.

“We welcome the extension of the Amisom mandate by one year since the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia has helped to not only weaken Al-Shabaab, but to also liberate key towns,” she said Thursday during a meeting with senior military officials from several European and African countries at the International Peace Training Centre in Karen, Nairobi.

CALLED FOR COOPERATION

The Defence minister called for cooperation from other countries, saying the war on terror could not be won alone.

This comes even as Al-Shabaab reportedly published a new video on its website, threatening to carry out attacks on Kenyan towns.

Ms Omamo said terrorists across the world were now persuaded by pseudo-religious and philosophical persuasions and were involved in other international and transnational crimes such as drug and human trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, illicit trafficking in firearms and mercenarism.

“Terrorists do not fit any age or gender profile. Nor are they identifiable by class or other sociological factors. Their choice of target is indiscriminate. They are, and could be anyone, anywhere any time,” she said.

Ms Omamo noted that intelligence sharing was not only effective in combating terrorism, but also stemmed the spread of the threat across borders.
Defence PS Mutea Iringo urged the West not to stigmatise and isolate countries that were at the frontline of the terror threat.