02:42 GMT 21st December 2011
Kenyan troops were dismissed as inexperienced, having never fought in a war apart from serving in peacekeeping missions overseas. But two months down the line, Kenyan troops have displayed surprising resilience as many ai-Shabaab strongholds like Ras Kamboni, Dhobley, Tabda, Beles Qooqani, Oddo and Kolbio continue to fall. That said, the operation has not advanced as fast as anticipated due to heavy rains and a difficult terrain and the Kenyans are expected to face a major challenge as they approach the port of Kismayu, which they hope to wrest from aiShabaab control.
Dubbed Operation Linda Nchi (Kiswahili for 'defend the nation'), the mission was prompted by the Islamist group's persistent security threats, in particular raids and abductions along Kenyan border towns. Although such activity began as far back as 2009, Kenya only reacted when its flourishing tourism industry seemed threatened.
On September 11, as the world marked the 1Oth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, British tourist David Tebutt was killed and his wife abducted by suspected ai-Shabaab militia in the Lamu archipelago, which borders Somalia on the coastal belt. Then on October 1, aiShabaab struck again, this time kidnapping Marie Didieu, a wheelchair-bound French woman who was suffering from cancer. Didieu later died in captivity as her abductors left behind her medication. That same month, two French aid workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres were abducted outside the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya.
Kenya declared war on ai-Shabaab, with the country's internal security minister George Saitoti and his defence counterpart Yusuf Haji stressing Kenya's right to defend its territorial integrity. But people question why they only acted after foreigners were targeted by aiShabaab when many Kenyan civilians and military personnel have been victims of the group's attacks for the last two years.
'Why does it take the killing and kidnapping of foreign tourists for our government to remember the doctrine of territorial integrity? demanded veteran journalist Mwenda Njoka, in The Star, one of Kenya's local dailies. 'Wasn't the same territorial integrity violated many times over when ai-Shabaab militias made incursions into our country several times raiding police posts, GSU [General Service Unit] camps, targeting our military and ultimately kidnapping Kenyan soldiers?'
Whatever the answer, there seems to be no turning back now. President Mwai Kibaki has indicated that Kenya's forces will remain in Somalia until ai-Shabaab is completely routed. Speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia, in October, Kibaki said, 'Kenya is not at war with Somalia, but is carrying out military action against the Islamic militia, which is a non-state actor that has been perpetrating blatant attacks, abductions, and killings of innocent civilians.'
Prime Minister Raila Odinga put it more bluntly: 'We have not gone into this as a tea party. We have gone into this because of necessity. This is the first time in our history that Kenyan forces have gone outside our borders. The purpose is really to secure our own country. The cost to our economy has been great and rising.'
The two leaders made their comments after Somalia's transitional federal government's (fFG) apparent indecisive stand on Kenya's incursion. Although President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed initially supported the move, he later changed his mind, arguing the operation was a violation of Somalia's sovereignty. Somali politicians are walking a tight rope -while they are agreed on the need to tame aiShabaab, which has controlled much of central and southern Somalia since 2006, they are keen not to upset MPs and the public who are opposed to anything that looks like an invasion of Somalia.
Amidst the confusion, the country's Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali flew to Nairobi to declare TFG's full support for Kenya's mission. In a joint communique issued in Nairobi more than two weeks after Kenyan troops first crossed the border into Somalia, Ali and his Kenyan counterpart Odinga called for international backing as they vowed that their countries would work together to fight what they termed a 'common enemy'.
Ali added that liberating areas of southern Somalia is the first step to getting assistance to the people living there. 'We want to deliver humanitarian services to the people who were denied relief aid by this terrorist organisation and also, to deliver other basic services such as education, health, recovery, reconstruction and development, because they deserve it. They were denied this for the last 20 years,' he said.
Kenya's Defence Forces are already exuding confidence given that 37 al-Shabaab militants have been killed during the operation. Major Emmanuel Chirchir, Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson, says that only three Kenyan soldiers have died so far.
Although al-Shabaab has always quoted higher casualties on the Kenyan side, Kenyan authorities have dismissed them as mere propaganda.
Al-Shabaab, which means The Youth in Arabic, emerged following the defeat of the Union of Islamic Courts by US-backed Ethiopian forces in 2006. Linked to al-Qaeda, they have proved more than a match for the weak transitional government. In August, it announced a 'tactical withdrawal' from the capital, Mogadishu, after a sustained offensive by African Union (AU) and government forces. But it still controls the second city, Kismayo. Kismayo is a key asset for the militants, allowing supplies to reach areas under their control and providing taxes for their operations.
In September, the US launched a series of attacks by unmanned drones on suspected alShabaab positions around Kismayo.
As expected, the Kenyan incursions have attracted al-Shabaab's wrath. '(We) will attack Kenya unless it withdraws its troops from Somalia', Shaykh Ali Mohamud Dheere, a spokesperson for the group warned soon after the Kenyan troops landed in Somalia. 'Kenya has peace, its cities have tall buildings and business is flourishing there, while Somalia is in chaos. If your government ignores our calls to stop its aggression on Somali soil, we will strike at the heart of your interests.'
It was not long before the first revenge attack was carried out. A hand grenade was lobbed at a downtown Nairobi bar, injuring 14 people. The following day, another Russianmade grenade was hurled at a minibus as it picked passengers up from a downtown Nairobi terminus. One person died and eight others were injured.
Following The Attacks, Police Moved Swiftly And Arrested The Suspect With A Large Cache Of Arms And Ammunition In A House At Kayole Estate In Eastern Nairobi. Elgiva Bwire Oliacha, Aka Mohammed Seif, A 28-year-old Kenya, Was Arraigned And Immediately Pleaded Guilty To Terrorism Charges, Which Earned Him A Life Sentence.
Bwire's arrest raised questions on the viability of the Somalia invasion given that alShabaab has sympathisers inside Kenya. Indeed, apart from the two grenade attacks, alShabaab continues to carry out attacks in Kenya's border towns even as Operation Linda Nchi continues, including one in a Garissa church that left two people dead.
The discovery of weapons in the house of a Christian youth recently converted to Islam also lends credence to claims that Kenya has been a 'perfect' breeding ground for terrorists due to high unemployment rates and corruption within the police and immigration department that makes it easy for young Kenyans to cross over to Somalia for recruitment into al-Shabaab ranks for financial gain.
Even so, the threat posed by al-Shabaab has put the Kenyan security officials on an unprecedented high alert. Security has been beefed up in and around key installations and five-star hotels. Shoppers have to be frisked as they enter malls while passengers boarding buses are also searched.
But while this has been welcomed by some citizens, Muslims and Kenyan Somalis say they are being unfairly harassed and targetrng.
Altough the government says this is not the case, previous raids in Eastleigh, a trading centre and estate in central Nairobi, have left a bitter taste in the mouth. Popularly referred to as 'little Mogadishu' due to the large number of the Somalis living there, Eastleigh is also believed to be the nerve centre of alShabaab.
Also, in early November, two women wearing floor-length gown and head covering known in Kenya as bui bui were attacked by passers-by in Nairobi's central business district on suspicion that they belonged to alShabaab.
Kenya's military operation has attracted support from the East African Community member states, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Uganda suffered a terrorist attack last year in retaliation, it is thought, for supplying troops to the AU mission in Somalia. More than 70 people were killed. Burundi also contributes to the 9,000 AU troops in Somalia.
Kenya has not yet said what it will do after the military operation. As the country in which the TFG was formed in exile in 2004 and which midwifed the Somali peace talks, Kenya feels it has a duty to ensure that peace remains in Somalia, given that the TFG's term ends in August.
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