KENYA PUTS ITS MILITARY IN STATE OF ALERTNESS ALONG HER BORDER WITH SOMALIA FOLLOWING THREATS BY PR -AL QAEDA ISLAMIST EXTREMISITS.
Writes Leo Odera Omolo In KisumuCity
CONTINUED political instability in the seemingly ungovernable neighboring Somalia and persistent threats of attack by extremist Islamists terrorists has forced usually careful and moderate Kenyan government to put its military on twenty four hour state of alertness.
The extremists, who have been fighting the Somali transitional government of President Sheikh Sharrif, which is recognized by both the UN and the African Unity {AU}, have twice threatened to attack ,if Kenya sends its army to support the beleaguered , unstable and militarily weak government in Mogadishu.
Kenya is now on the war-path as a result of what observers in Nairobi describe as “unusual state of military alertness”. The country is preparing its military in readiness to protect Kenya’s borders not only to fight conventional war, but also to stop and prevent the influx of Somali refugees seeking safe haven in Kenya, following threats by Islamist extremists threat to launch full scale attack on Nairobi.
The Islamist extremists have stepped up the fighting around the Somalia capital Mogadishu after their warlord Osama Bin Laden, allegedly issued a stern warning via audio tapes in March this year declaring President Sharrif an enemy of the Islam and called for a combined al-Qaeda and al-Shaabab forces on the ground inside Somalia to fight and topple the transitional government.
At the same time, Kenya’s Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, one of the three top ranking officials in the grand coalition government, has reiterated that his country had no intention of sending its troops to fight in the war-torn Somalia, but would not hesitate to guard its own territory against any possible external attack.
But despite the juicy diplomacy exhibited by the Vice President , Kenyan military has been put on twenty four high state of alertness to prevent ,and if need be, to respond positively and militarily to any foreign attack..
On Thursday, members of Kenyan Parliamentary committee on national security and defense asked the government to close the entire border with Somalia and stop the influx of people fleeing the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation from entering into Kenya..The MPs described the threat by Somali extremists as “very serious and real”. “The threat now requires drastic action by the government,” said Fred Kapondi, the committee chairman who is also the MP for Mt. Elgon constituency, adding that the people flocking into the country as refugees from Somalia posed a real menace to Kenyans and a major security threat, and should be blocked from entering Kenya at all costs.
Kapondi further disclosed that his committee and that of Foreign Affairs and Defense would jointly petition the government to take drastic action to protect its international borders.
Kenya has the longest hinterland border with Somalia, which is running into hundreds of kilometers in its semi-arid North Eastern and Coast Provinces.. And to stop the Somali refugee fleeing the war zones in their country is extremely difficult task, which would require extra manpower within its security set up.
The Islamist militants backed up by Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda fighters have been battling to topple the embattled Transitional Government of President Sheikh Sharrif, and as a result the Horn of Africa nation is bleeding to death. Many top government officials including cabinet Ministers have been killed. Islamists sharia law has been introduced in areas under control of the Islamist.
Earlier in the week, twenty MPs of the transitional government boarded a chattered light plane and fled into KENYA, as the Mogadishu regime called for an urgent military support from the international committee, to help the government ward off the incessant attack and the killing of innocent people in Mogadishu.
The transitional government has since declared state of emergency and called for urgent military support from neighboring countries and the international communities for help both in manpower and military hardware,. But it is only the United States which has responded to the current requests, as well as Uganda, which is one of the AU member countries, which has kept its troop in Somalia as part of the AU and UN peace-keeping force.
An underground organization calling itself al-Shabaab had threatened to blow a crucial bridge that links the North Eastern Kenya with the rest of the Somalia.The group is said to have been provoked by Kenya’s willingness to have its territory used as the landing pad by NATO and other European countries who patrol the Somalia Coastline for pirates. Several pirates caught up in the act have been transferred to other foreign destination where they will face criminals, through Kenyan port City of Mombasa.
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
– – –
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:22:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: KENYA HAS PUT ITS MILITARY IN HIGH STATE OF ALERT FOLLOWING TERRORISTS THREATS