Kenya troops move into Somalia to pursue kidnappers

Oct 17, 2011

KENYA has sent troops into Somalia in a bid to pursue militants it suspects of carrying out a spate of kidnappings.

KENYA has sent troops into Somalia in a bid to pursue militants it suspects of carrying out a spate of kidnappings.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said troops were pursuing Somali al-Shabab militants across the border.

But a Somali diplomat at the United Nations told the BBC that if the reports were true it would be a violation of Somalia's sovereignty.

Several Westerners have been seized in Kenya by suspected Somali militants and taken into Somalia.

Two Spanish aid workers were abducted from Kenya's sprawling Dadaab refugee camp on Thursday.

A British woman and a French woman have been kidnapped from remote beach resorts over the past month, dealing a major blow to Kenya's tourism industry.

The first secretary of Somalia's mission to the United Nations, Omar Jamal, said the reports of Kenyan soldiers crossing the border had not been officially confirmed but said he was afraid the involvement of Kenyans in Somalia could make the situation worse.

"We understand the Kenyan concerns very well," he said.

"However if any action is to be taken... the Somali government has to be on the same page, the Somali government has to be informed, the Somali government has to know exactly in many details what is going on, otherwise it will be a different story."

Warplanes

An eyewitness told the BBC he had seen about 25 armoured vehicles full of Kenyan soldiers passing through the Somali town of Dhobley. Tanks were also seen.

The BBC's Will Ross, in Nairobi, says there are reports that Kenyan military helicopters have been carrying out raids in Somalia.

Senior Somali military commander Abdi Yusuf told Reuters that warplanes had attacked two al-Shabab bases in southern Somalia but could not confirm if the jets were Kenyan.

"I can't identify the military aircraft, but our neighbour Kenya is fully supporting us militarily and our mission is to drive al-Shabab out of the region," he said.

In response, al-Shabab - the radical Islamist insurgent group in Somalia - tried to raise the alarm in the areas it controls, AP news agency reports. BBC

Residents in the town of Qoqani said militants were going into people's homes and forcibly recruiting new fighters, the report said.

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