Kenya’s army marches toward Somalian port town of Kismayu

Kenya’s military plan is to move the forces and equipment toward Kismayu, from where they hope to dislodge the Al-Shabaab insurgents.
Air strikes in the areas of Gabragaso, Janabdala and Okosigo in central Somalia helped Kenyan troops in carrying out their plan to liberate Kismayu from Al-Shabaab, a spokesman for the troops said.
However, Kenyan Foreign Affairs Spokesman Lindsay Kiptiness said there were mounting fears the military gains may not be sustained unless they were backed by real political progress at the level of the TFG.

“A new round of political conflict would affect the transitional process eight months away,” Kiptiness said on Saturday at a weekly briefing on the Kenyan operations in Somalia.
Kenyan military’s operations officer, Col Cyrus Oguna, said the air strikes on strategic locations aimed at expanding areas under its control had seen the operation push deeply into the Al-Shabaab, and enabled aid agencies to move in place in Somalia.

“We have been able to plan and execute attacks with testable accuracy while keeping collateral damage at zero,” Oguna said. “We have surpassed our timelines within proportions,” Oguna said. “The Al-Shabaab’s infrastructure has been affected.”

Oguna said the operation had already left several Al-Shabaab casualties, some of whom were currently being treated at various hospitals in Kismayu.
The hospitals in Kismayu are overflowing with wounded. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited Somalia recently to review the security situation on the ground, praised the progress achieved by the Kenyan forces, backed by Ethiopian and TFG forces, and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

“The Islamists are retreating under mounting pressure from government forces and their allies backed by Kenya and Ethiopian forces,” Ban said.
The UN chief told the Security Council it was important that a coherent military strategy be developed which is aligned to the political objectives.
Somalia’s political wrangling escalated this week after parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan was voted out but later rejected the vote outcome. — Xhinhua.