News
Kenya troops to remain in Somalia in African Union bid to stabilze the country: President Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenyan troops will remain in Somalia until peace and stability is restored to the region, President Uhuru Kenyatta said, one year after gunmen stormed a shopping mall in his country’s capital.
Militants belonging to Somalia’s al Qaeda-allied al-Shabaab attacked Nairobi’s upmarket Westgate shopping mall on September 21, 2013, killing at least 67 people in an attack that evolved into a 4-day siege.
The al-Shabaab, which is fighting Kenyan and other African soldiers who are part of a U.N.-mandated African Union force in Somalia, has repeatedly threatened more attacks on Kenyan soil if the country does not withdraw its troops. “We have all seen the gains made from our defense forces’ assignment in Somalia. We must not betray Kenyans by suggesting that the work be abandoned uncompleted,” Kenyatta wrote in an article published in Kenya’s Sunday Nation newspaper.
“We owe it to our country as well as our brothers and sisters in Somalia to stay the course until the mission is completed so that East Africa and the Horn of Africa enjoy peace and stability.” Memorials for those who died at Westgate are being held in various parts of the country, including the site of the attack.
The opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) party, which stood by Kenyatta during the Westgate assault but has since blamed his administration for security failings and in July this year, called for the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from Somalia. A poll by Ipsos Kenya published on Saturday showed most Kenyans also want the soldiers to leave the neighboring Horn of African nation. Just 19 percent of those surveyed thought Kenyan troops should stay in Somalia as they are.
The rest were, however, divided as to whether the Kenyan soldiers should come home unconditionally, move back just to protect the Kenyan border or only leave Somalia when other African Union troops can replace them. The Ipsos poll underlined general concerns about security in Kenya. Only 3 percent of Kenyans surveyed thought there was no risk “at all” from al-Shabaab and 68 percent believed the threat from the group was extremely high.
Kenyan troops first launched an incursion against the al-Shabaab in October 2011, accusing them of raids inside Kenya, and eventually seized control of the southern port of Kismayu.
Kenyatta said in his article that his administration had increased resources available to security agencies. “My government is doing everything it can, and succeeding. A great deal of commendable effort has been expended by our security institutions to prevent terrorist attacks,” he said.
To mark the anniversary of the attack, the al-Shabaab said it would publish a series of articles titled “The Westgate attack and the Wicked Position of Evil Scholars” to show the significance of the strike.
Source: Reuters