Kenyan troops strike Al-Shabaab training camps

NAIROBI - Kenyan troops backed by warships destroyed two Al-Shabaab training camps on Sunday as they intensify their crackdown on the militant groups in southern Somalia.

Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) backed by soldiers from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia shattered the training facility that is also used by Al-Qaeda to train fighters based in Hola Wajeer in Badade District, Lower Juba.

"On November 20 at around 12:00, KDF jets supported by Naval fire destroyed two Al- Shabaab/Al-Qaeda KEY training facility in Hola Wajeer/Lacta area in Badade district, Lower Juba," Chirchir said on Sunday night.

According to the military spokesman, the destroyed infrastructure is used to accommodate foreign fighters, most of them trainers of the Al-Shabaab fighters.

"We also want to confirm that no Kenya Navy warship was sunk or engaged by the Al-Shabaab in the Somali coast as reported by some of the media," Chirchir said.

The latest move came as residents in Somalia say a large number of Ethiopian troops have crossed into neighboring Horn of Africa nation to join the dual military operation.

News reports quoted Somali elders on Sunday as saying the Ethiopian troops moved into Somalia Saturday in armored vehicles.

The Ethiopian government would not confirm the reports, but news agencies quoted an unnamed Ethiopian official as saying there was a "strong possibility" the nation's military would soon support Kenya's operation against Al-Shabaab.

The Ethiopian entry in Somalia also came as the Kenyan troops said they are effectively dealing with the change of tact by Al- Shabaab following gradual acceptance by local Somalis.

Colonel Cyrus Oguna of the Department of Defense said on Saturday the Kenyan forces are hugely benefiting from information and intelligence they are receiving from the people liberated from the Somali militia, Al-Shabaab.

Oguna attributed the successes which have seen more Al-Shabaab fighters killed and several injured due to cordial relations the troops are enjoying with the local populations.

"There has been a very great cooperation between KDF forces and local leaders in the last one week which has provided some intelligence on the whereabouts of Al-Shabaab bases in south Somalia," Oguna told journalists in Nairobi.

He said more than 30 Al-Shabaab members were killed last week in raids by the military while others were arrested when disguised as women in the border area of Sinai.

Struggling as a governing authority in most parts of southern Somalia, Al-Shabaab was reportedly mobilizing local business leaders to provide its volunteers with modes of transport to enable it to defend against the Kenyan offensive in response to a spate of attacks against the Kenyan security.

The cross-border operation dubbed, Operation Linda Nchi (Protect the Nation), was launched on October 16 and  has seen Kenya deploy ground troops and air assets between its common border and near the Somali port town of Kismayo.

The officials have also clarified that its forces were at war with Somali militants who threaten Kenya's heavily tourism- dependent economy and its national security.

The Al-Qaeda allied group, Al-Shabaab, which denies involvement in the abductions, has vowed to retaliate.

The Kenyan military says it has secured more areas of southern Somalia and is urging aid agencies to come back to the country to help those in need.  Kenya's Foreign Ministry says it is also trying to win international approval for African Union forces to join the fight.

The Kenyan military official said the KDF has driven Al-Shabab fighters out of parts of southern Somalia in a series of raids over the last week.

"The relationship between the KDF and the local Somali population has been growing and we are gaining acceptance because of the rapport that has been established, they have confidence in us and are volunteering information, in the coming days more towns will be captured courtesy to the cooperation of the locals," Oguna said.

Al-Shabaab has been fighting since 2008 to topple the weak central government. The group recently left the capital, Mogadishu, but still controls large sections of southern and central Somalia.

The rag-tag nature of the group complicates battle, but the unfolding humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia has also forced the Kenyan troops to focus mostly on securing relief supplies as opposed to engaging in real battle against the group.

The militia group has in the recent past abducted four foreigners from inside Kenya undermining the economy of the country. The militias abducted two military personnel who since July have not been unaccounted for, according to Kenyan officials.

Security analysts believe like Al Qaeda, Al-Shabaab's main sources of funding may be legitimate businesses in Nairobi and Mogadishu, from where the group draws funds to keep its operations running.

Somalia has been unfortunate for at least two decades, in which warlords and all other merchants of violence have devastated the Horn of African country's human existence.

Al-Shabaab  has been the latest of these groups to impose severe misery on the population by denying them the basic right to choose their legitimate leaders and access to food aid, thus condemning them to famine.