KDF: Key al-Shabaab arms centre seized

A key centre used by al-Shabaab to transport arms and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from Kismayu to Kenyan refugee camps through Hosingow was captured this week, military spokesman, Col Cyrus Oguna, said.

The capture of Delbio in the central sector would go a long way towards destabilising the terrorist group’s operations near Kenya’s eastern border with Somalia, he said during the Kenya Defence Forces weekly media briefing on Saturday.

Last December alone, at least 15 incidents involving grenades or IEDs were reported in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and Dadaab.

Col Oguna said that on January 22, during the capture of the centre, KDF killed several al-Shabaab members and recovered four AK-47s, several rounds of ammunition, communication equipment and a water tank.

However, two KDF soldiers and a Somali Transitional Federal Government soldier were killed. Other soldiers sustained minor injuries during the fighting but are active in the field, he added.

He told the Sunday Nation that the KDF soldiers killed were both lieutenants and an inquiry into the circumstances around their death had started.

Armed Forces regulations require an inquiry to be set up when a senior officer is killed in combat.

Col Oguna also dismissed claims that there were cases of desertion, where some soldiers had absented themselves without leave to avoid serving in Somalia.

He said that the power struggles within the al-Shabaab and the continued KDF operation had weakened the group.

“This makes it even easier for us to achieve our objectives.”

Col Oguna also explained that although they had the logistics in place and had collected enough intelligence, the rescue of two Kenyan captives held by the terrorist group was taking time as they did not want any casualties.

“We want them back home alive,” he said.