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Kenya sends troops across border into Somalia
Kenyan military forces moved into southern Somalia on Sunday, an official and residents said, a day after top Kenyan defense officials said the country has the right to defend itself after a rash of militant kidnappings of Europeans inside Kenya.
Residents in southern Somalia said that columns of Kenyan troops had moved in and that military aircraft were flying overhead. Resident Ali Nur Hussein said Kenyan troops arrived in tanks and military trucks, and that troops were coordinating with Somali government soldiers.
Kenya’s government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said Kenyan troops “are pursuing al-Shabaab across the border.” He did not give any other details.
In response, al-Shabaab, Somalia’s most dangerous militant group, tried to raise the alarm in areas it controls. Residents in the town of Qoqani who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals said militants were going into homes and forcibly recruiting new fighters.
“Are you ready to live under Christians?” one al-Shabaab official shouted on a militant radio station. “Get out of your homes and defend your dignity and religion. Today is the day to defend against the enemy.”
A Somali government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said his government welcomes logistical support from “our Kenyan brothers,” but said Somalia did not need Kenyan troops.
“Our forces are ready to combat al-Shabab and they are doing so effectively. They are ready at the borders, so sending troops is not needed,” Osman said.
