Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab has taken over the Geriley base near the border with Kenya, which happens to be one of the six Forward Operation Bases (FOBs) that African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) handed over to the Somali government last month.
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is said to be carrying out airstrikes in the area.
The Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the Gedo region of Jubaland State was under the responsibility of KDF for close to a decade.
There has been widespread worry in Kenya and the Horn of Africa region following recent, Al-Shabaab staged terror attacks along the border and in other parts of the country especially the Coast and North Eastern regions.
Kenya has in the recent years suffered the brunt of Al-Shabaab attacks in which hundreds of citizens and even foreigners have lost lives, many more maimed and a trail of destruction left behind.
This is the latest resurgence of the terror group after being heavily subdued since 2016 by the defunct African Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) that transitioned to ATMIS.
Recent history points to successive attacks on Kenyan soil which have left hundreds of casualties and a trail of irreparable destruction in some cases notably Northern part of Kenya and Lamu county where a number of people were recently slaughtered.
For instance, in September 2013, armed Al-Shabab fighters stormed Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, firing indiscriminately at shoppers and killing 67 people in a siege that lasted 80 hours.
Also in November 2014, the group hijacked a bus in Kenya’s Mandera county and killed 28 non-Muslims on board in what was later believed to have been a revenge attack against what the group termed a ‘non-believer’ government fighting Muslims.
Perhaps one of the most well-executed and consequently bloodiest attack was that on Garissa University College in April 2015, which left 148 people dead, most of them students.
In 2016, fighters from the Somali armed group launched a bloody assault on a Kenyan-run military base for African Union peacekeepers, killing scores of Kenyan soldiers.
Then came the January 2019 two-day Dusit D2 hotel complex armed strike in Nairobi’s Riverside area, a block which also houses offices and banks, which sent people scampering to safety.
At least 22 officers have died in the last few weeks in Garissa and Lamu counties while one suspected Al- Shabaab terrorist was arrested last Thursday along Garissa- Dadaab road by a multi-agency team.
A couple of weeks ago, at least two Kenya Defence Forces troops were killed as they responded to an attack on a General Service Unit team in Lamu county on the Kenyan coast.
At least 10 General Service Unit officers had earlier been injured when an armoured personnel carrier (APC) vehicle they were in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants at Mlima wa Faru, between Pandanguo and Witu in Lamu County.
The militia group, appearing to change tactic lately, has been planting IEDs on public roads and footpaths targeting motorists and military patrol vehicles.
Capping the first phase of the troop drawdown, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) with the support of the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) last week formally handed over six Forward Operating Bases (FOBS) to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).
The event was graced by key officials among them Somalia’s Minister for Defence as Guest of Honor, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur and other senior government officials.
Also present were the Director of African Union Conflict Management Department, Alhadji Sarjoh Bah, Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Catriona Laing, Head of UNSOS, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG), Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, FGS officials, Ambassadors of Troop Contributing Countries (TCC), and other senior dignitaries.
“Today’s ceremony commemorates the successful handover of FOBs from ATMIS to the competent authorities in Somalia. I salute the entire fraternity and leadership of ATMIS for the great strides and sacrifices they have made in Somalia, and also commend the great effort and preparedness of the Government of Somalia and the Somali Security Forces for achieving this important milestone.” noted Kacyira told the media.
Following the recent sustained wave of attacks, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said Kenya will delay re-opening its border with Somalia.
In May, the two governments had agreed to reopen within 90 days several border posts including Mandera, Liboi and Kiunga, which have been closed since 2011 when Kenya sent its forces into Somalia to help fight Al-Shabaab.
