Kenyan soldiers willing to die for their colleagues

Corporal Mohammed Somane was taught that should a grenade be thrown in the midst of Kenya Defence Force soldiers, the nearest throws himself on it to absorb the full impact of its blast.

A lot more lives would be saved by preventing the grenade’s fragments from flying about and causing extensive harm.

The soldier would barely have 4.5 seconds to end his life, protect those of colleagues, and ultimately bring grief to his family.

He would nonetheless, die a hero.

Self-sacrifice might sound far-fetched in theory, but for soldiers fighting Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, such techniques are real, and Operation Linda Nchi has offered an opportunity to test the skills acquired over the years and fire weapons at a real enemy. It has also been a test of their bravery.

Soldiers based at Tabda, a patrol base 77 kilometres inside Somalia, had one such opportunity on Sunday, March 26.

A heavily-armed platoon had set out from the base, sweeping the area for Al-Shabaab towards Delbio, six kilometres on the road from the base towards Kenya.

The KDF platoon used the opportunity to learn how Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) works. The RPG is the signature weapon of Al-Shabaab, and soldiers have learnt to recognise the loud screech it makes as it cruises in the air.

Towards the end of the day, the lieutenant in charge radioed back to base for the patrol crew to be picked up from a pre-arranged point in the Puma Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).

But as the soldiers headed out of the bush towards the APCs, one drew their attention to a more dangerous weapon that had somehow found its way to the side of the road, metres from the spot where they had been firing the RPGs.

Unexploded mortar

It was an unexploded 81mm mortar of the variety Al-Shabaab appears to have recently acquired, and has been firing at the KDF and TFG bases.

It is safe to be near an unexploded mortar bomb when it has not been fired, but when it has, and lies on the road, you are safest farthest away from it.

But there would be no point of leaving it in the middle of the road, with the very real chance that a KDF vehicle or one from the friendly Ras Kamboni Brigade or the Somalia National Army, could run over it.

When the lieutenant in charge asked him to see to it that the bomb was removed, Cpl Mohammed Somane did not hesitate.

He stepped towards the bomb as his colleagues increased the distance between themselves and the object and, hoisting his rifle onto his back to prevent it restricting his movement, peered at it from ground level.

He then gingerly touched the tail fins of the mortar, checking whether it was attached to anything buried in the ground and then lifted it gently in his arms, with his colleagues watching from a distance.

He needed to move at least 14 steps to put his colleagues out of much danger and to place the bomb on a spot from which it could be destroyed safely. This he did, finally placing it in a bush.

When the Nation talked to him about it at the base a day later, the 37-year-old father of four from Garissa was rather calm about it.

He said he had recognised the type of bomb from his days of training at the School of Infantry at Isiolo. A mortar bomb detonates on impact and that size can cause damage within a 100-metre radius if it lands on hard or rocky ground.

The safety pin had also not been completely removed, but the bomb had definitely been fired, said Cpl Somane, who has had battle experience in operations fighting the Oromo Liberation Front in Moyale and the Sabaot Land Defence Forces in Mount Elgon.

The soldiers speculated that the bomb could have been one of those fired by the KDF when they came under attack at Delbio on January 22, leading to the killing of officers Lt Kevin Webi and Lt Edward Okoyo.

Did he not fear that his family would be deprived of its head by undertaking the risky job removing the mortar bomb?

“In the army, if we all keep thinking about our families, nobody will fight,” he said.

Cpl Somane has been involved in the current operation since December 2011, when he crossed the border into Somalia, and was in the ambush in which a convoy headed to Belesc Qoogani was attacked.

He was in the APC at which Al-Shabaab fired seven RPGs in an unsuccessful attempt to break the bullet-proof glass.

For now, he looks at the operation with the same optimism with which he settles into the defence trenches each evening, where he is charge of nine soldiers.