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Category: Diaspora News

Written by Kim

Leaders of the Al-Shabab militant group in Somalia have reportedly contacted the Kenyan government to negotiate as Kenyan military forces pursue them deeper into Somalia.

An official in the Kenyan government said that the militant leaders had expressed a desire “to talk”, although he did not elaborate on the nature of the talks.

The development comes amid Kenya’s largest foreign military deployment in its history.

The East African nation has several hundred soldiers on the ground in Somalia, along with armoured vehicles, artillery units and attack helicopters.

Kenyan jets on Monday struck several Al-Shabaab training sites, while Kenyan soldiers are advancing on a major al-Shabab stronghold in the south of the country.

Somalia’s president has praised Kenya’s invasion, after initially criticising the Kenyan government for violating the sovereignty of Somalia.

Somalia lacks a functional national government and the interim government’s authority is limited to the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu.

Somali militants control the rest of the country and the Somali government is only able to hold onto Mogadishu because of the 8000-man African Union peace keeping force.

The Kenyan government has indicated its invasion of Somali is aimed at driving the extremist militant group out of the southern regions of Somalia so that the two nations’ porous border can be better secured.

Kenya blames al-Shabab for the recent kidnappings of foreigners on the Kenyan side of the border, as well as a spate of terrorist attacks within the country, a development that has the potential to derail Kenya’s lucrative tourism industry.

The port city of Kismayo, described by the United Nations as a key stronghold and source of cash for al-Shabab, is the main target for Kenyan forces.

If they secure control of the city they’ll deal a severe blow to the militant organisation, depriving it of around half its annual income.

The United Nations estimates the group collects up to US $50 million a year from businesses in Kismayo.

The al-Shabab militant group, which grew out of the chaos of the Somali civil war, has had control of vast swathes of the country since 2005.

The group has made it near-impossible for humanitarian groups to help those affected by the devastating famine currently gripping the Horn of Africa.