Wednesday January 27, 2016
By Patel Okumu
Somalia: The AMISOM Acting Force Commander, Maj Gen Nakibus Lakara has reiterated that the Mission will remain committed to its primary mandate of ensuring terrorist groups in Somalia, especially Al Shabaab, are destroyed.
He was speaking during a visit to El-Adde and other Forward AMISOM Bases in Sector 2 and 3. El-Adde was attacked by Al Shabaab terrorists on January 15, 2016.The visit by the acting Force Commander, accompanied by officers from AMISOM Force Headquarters (FHQ), was aimed at assessing the general situation in the bases and operations being executed by AMISOM troops in the region.
In particular, the visit to El-Adde was meant to make an appraisal of on-going search and rescue as well as recovery operations by AMISOM KDF troops who re-took the base after the attack. The duty call was also to commiserate with, show solidarity and encourage the troops to continue the good work, while reaffirming AMISOM’s resolve to defeat terrorists.
“I join his Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, Hon Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the Commander-in-Chief of KDF, in reiterating that we are here to ensure that Al Shabaab and other terrorist groups are eliminated from this great nation of Somalia. The Commander-in-Chief has spoken; you are the implementers of the command, I know you are ready,” Gen Lakara said.
He reminded them that AMISOM was not a peacekeeping mission but a peace enforcing mission, adding that casualties do arise given the nature of the task at hand. AMISOM troops’ onus was to minimize those casualties by taking out the enemy.In his remarks he noted the need for the Somali people to involve themselves in the process of bringing peace to Somalia.
“AMISOM has been in Somalia for the last eight years. In these eight years, huge strides have been made in the restoration of peace in most parts of the country, giving way to the Federal Government consolidating and expanding its control over the territory. But for lasting peace to be achieved, the Somali people must reject and extract Al Shabaab terrorists from their midst. Only by doing this, will they rid themselves of terror. This cannot be left to AMISOM only,” Gen Lakara noted.
He implored all AMISOM troops to use the El-Adde attack to re-strategize the battle against terror. “The El-Adde attack against friendly forces should be a launch pad that will embolden, strengthen and motivate us to go all out and hunt down Al Shabaab and other armed enemies of Somalia. We shall re-strategize. Our defenses must now become offensive by nature. It is pay-back time, we shall win this war, and the Somali people shall be free,” Gen Lakara said.
The visit took the acting Force Commander and his team to El-Adde, Busaar, Baardheere, Taraaka and Dhobley. The Acting Force Commander was accompanied by Chief of Operations, Col Mutacho Othieno, Chief Military Information Officer, Col Caesar Bahwezi and Force Spokesperson, Lt Col Paul Njuguna among others.