Saturday, July 07, 2012
By ATHMAN AMRAN
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops fighting Al Shabaab militants in Somalia are now formally under the command of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
The full integration of the 4,664 troops was formalised yesterday during a colourful ceremony at Department of Defence headquarters in Nairobi.
The Kenyan soldiers now join those from Burundi, Djibouti and Uganda to bring the Amisom force to slightly more than 17,000 troops out of the total authorised strength of 17,731. Sierra Leone is due to send a battalion in the near future.
Special representative of the chairman of the African Union Commission for Somalia, Ambassador Boubakar Diarra thanked Kenyans and the Government for responding to the union’s invitation to join Amisom.
“We are proud to welcome our brothers and sisters from Kenya in this African effort to help the people of Somalia,” he said. Amisom Force Commander, Lt-Gen Andrew Gutti was present.