KDF should defy Amisom command in case of another al Shabaab attack

KDF should defy Amisom command in case of another al Shabaab attack - security expert

Friday, February 5, 2016

Amisom soldiers in El Adde. Photo/Courtesy

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The KDF should defy Amisom's command system if they hope to survive in the event of any more terror attacks, security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe has said.

Mbijiwe said Kenya Defense Forces should operate on their own because "Amisom is weak".

"The success in Somalia is because KDF operated as KDF. The El Adde incident was complicated because KDF was under Amisom command which has weak decision making and leadership," he said.

Speaking to the Star in Meru, Mbijiwe said Amisom has even failed to urge Ethiopian forces to "clean" sector 3, which borders the area Kenyan soldiers were killed by terrorists.

Sector 2 Kenya has cleaned and sector 1 was cleaned by Uganda. Sectors 4, 5 and 6 upto Kismayu have been cleaned yet Amisom can't compel Ethiopia to clean their sector. That’s not despise or racism it’s the truth," Mbijiwe said.

More than 100 soldiers were killed in January when al Shabaab said it took over a KDF base, about 550km (340 miles) west of Mogadishu after a suicide bomber from the group rammed its gates.

Following the attack, acting Force commander Major General Nakibus Lakara said lasting peace will be achieved if "the Somali people reject and extract al Shabaab from their midst", which he said cannot be left to Amisom only.

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