Kenyan forces in Somalia advance after key victories

By David Ochami in Fafadun, South Somalia

Kenya Defence Forces are now within striking distance of Badheere in southern Somalia after capturing two key towns in an intense aerial and ground assault.

Badheere is an Al Shabaab stronghold in Gedo Province, but the twin setbacks for the militants also saw them lose Sheikh Hassan Hussein, their top commander in the region, who was killed by a KDF mortar attack on a roadblock manned by the rebels. Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) shelled the militants using guns mounted aboard 500MD Defender attack helicopters.

The Tuesday night attack also destroyed two Al Shabaab communication stations. For two weeks, Kenyan planes and helicopters have struck several targets, including suspected ammunition dumps, anti-aircraft and artillery batteries in Bardheere, Fafadun and El Ade, Al Shabaab’s remaining strongholds in Gedo region.

Snuff out

A resident in Fafadun told The Standard by radio that "there was a series of loud bangs outside the city yesterday (Tuesday) evening," in reference to the strikes and mortar barrage outside the town that wrecked Al Shabaab camps on the outskirts.

KDF reported no casualties in the Fafadun operation that lasted close to an hour. Al Shabaab has not issued a statement on the attack by the time of filing this report, but Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) sources said wounded Al Shabaab fighters were fleeing towards Bardheere.

The capture of Fafadun, which lies 150 kilometres from Kenya’s border with Somalia, now places KDF and TFG forces within 70 kilometres of the Al Shabaab stronghold of Bardheere on Juba river.

This is the most eastward advance by the Kenyan forces in the Northern Sector since the start of the Kenyan military intervention in Somalia last year.

On a separate, front KDF infantry forces simultaneously attacked Inda Ceel town and seized it from Al Shabaab.

The capture of the two towns pushes Al Shabaab farther east towards the Juba River, limiting the militants’ presence in two districts out of Gedo’s six.

It also narrows road access to the deep south of Somalia by the rebels, including Kismayu, which is their main supply line.

Garbaharey, the capital of Gedo Province in the Juba river valley, is controlled by the moderate Islamic Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a, which is allied to the TFG and Ethiopia.

Inda Ceel town has been under Al Shabaab’s control since 2007, but they are now said to be fleeing towards Bardheere and the mountain ranges around El Ade to the North West and Muudale, about 40 kilometres north east of Busar town which KDF captured on October 24 last year.

The Kenyans and their TFG allies proclaimed victory yesterday although reports indicated yesterday that the TFG was still in mopping up operations to snuff out pockets of Al Shabaab resistance as the KDF consolidated their new base.

"Yesterday Fafadun was given to our forces," Gedo provincial governor Hussein Sheikh Abdi told The Standard in Burhache town.

A TFG spokesman, Warfa Sheikh Aden, announced: "Fafadun has already been captured by KDF and the TFG." He proclaimed, "the Al Shabaab movement has collapsed into bandits." Warfa alleged that "defeated" Al Shabaab fighters "are fleeing towards Bardheere" but it was not immediately clear whether any TFG soldiers were killed or wounded during the fighting.

Hit and destroyed

Earlier, the Commanding Officer in charge of the Kenyan operations in the Northern Sector, Lt Col Mohamed Hassan, announced Fafadun’s capture, saying: "Yesterday Fafadun was captured and our troops are now securing the town." He did not, however, provide details of the KDF’s immediate plans for capturing Bardheere.

Warfa said a pick-up truck known locally as a "technical", belonging to the militants was hit and destroyed in a missile strike.

Reports indicate that KDF troops advanced on Fafadun from Gherille on Kenya’s border with Somalia and travelled about 100 kilometres as the forces from Busar advanced on Inda Ceel. The helicopters unleashed strikes on hilltop bases of the Al Shabaab, including a patrol base, as the militants tried to fight back from thickets they had retreated to, apparently caught unawares. They left behind several guns, communication apparatus and ammunition.

Amid the helicopter fire and mortar attacks, the Kenyans and their TFG allies stormed the town as Al Shabaab’s resistance using rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms fire crumbled.

"They tried to resist but could not withstand the superior firepower of the Kenyan forces," said Lt Colonel Hassan.

He added that the Al Shabaab commander was "killed by mortar fire outside [Fafadun] town", and the KDF helicopters destroyed two Al Shabaab communication centres 20km outside the town and seized three high frequency radios, a similar number of AK 47 rifles, a pistol believed to belong to the slain rebel leader and ammunition from the fleeing insurgents.

The Gedo provincial governor said KDF and TFG forces were on the verge of "liberating this region from Al Shabaab". "We know they (Al Shabaab) will hide in the mountain ranges but the people (locals) will not shelter them anymore," said the governor.

He admitted that despite the new development Bardheere and a separate town called Burdubo are still "in enemy hands but will be liberated soon."

Beginning last Friday KDF forces on the Busar front have been shelling positions held by the militants beyond the township-Busar-that lies about 73 kilometres from Kenya’s border with Somalia.

Militant forces

The KDF is advancing towards Bardheere on two fronts: from Gherile towards the now captured Fafadun and from Damasa near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia and Kenya towards El Ade.

The multi-pronged operation that included aerial attacks, armoured infantry and artillery also seek to drive the militants from the border with Kenya to protect the homeland, according to KDF planners.

On Friday KDF also shelled a hillside outpost of the militants west of Busar. They want to block access from the Northern Sector to stem a transfer of militant forces into the Southern Sector. Aerial and electronic reconnaissance of key targets and militant movements around Yaqle, Bardheere, Burdhubo and the southern flank have also been stepped up.