KDF deployed to curb fighting in Bulahawo

The Kenya Defence Forces troops have been sent to Bulahawo on the Kenya-Somali border to prevent the fighting in the area from spilling over to the country.

There has been heavy fighting at Bulahawo between the Somali National Army and the Al-Shabaab since Saturday evening.

At least 12 people were killed when the militia briefly took control of the town.

KDF’s information operations officer Colonel Cyrus Oguna on Monday said that the militants were later defeated by the Somali Army, but the Kenyan troops were deployed to ensure the region was stabilised.

“Somali forces secured the town, but we have deployed our troops to ensure that the fighting does not spill over to Kenyan,” Col Oguna said.

Bulahawo, which lies across the border from Mandera Town in the extreme northeast of Kenya remained calm on Monday, but with a lot of tension.

Somali Army commander in the area Diyad Abdi Kalil said on Sunday that the Forces overpowered the militants and inflicted heavy losses on them.

He added that his men killed “nearly 20” militants. But a spokesman for the Al-Shabaab, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Mus’ab, dismissed the claim and saying his men killed 15 Somali Government soldiers.

Casualty estimates varied but most sources agreed that at least a dozen people, most of them fighters for the two sides, were killed.

“Al-Shabaab attacked the town from three directions and penetrated the Somali troop barracks after heavy fighting.

"They briefly took control of the town, but were later forced back. Twelve people, most of them fighters from the two sides died,” Sadik Mohamed, a resident said.

Another resident Hussein Mahat Abdulle said he saw bodies in uniform and bodies dressed like the militia.