Islamic militants have moved fighters to the Somali border town of Afmado in an effort to combat Kenyan forces who have entered Somalia, the militant group Al-Shabaab said Tuesday.The group said it viewed the Kenyan forces crossing of the joint border as "an affront to Somalia's territorial sovereignty."This move of fighters, which started Monday, comes after the militant group had threatened to "come into Kenya" if Kenyan forces did not leave Somalia.
"Kenyan troops have entered 100 kilometers into Somalia, and their planes are bombarding and killing residents," Sheikh Ali Mahmud Ragi, spokesman for Al-Shabaab, said in an online message posted on a jihadist website this week. "We shall come into Kenya if you do not go back."In response, the Kenyan and Somali governments issued a joint communique declaring Al-Shabaab "a common enemy to both countries." They pledged to work together to stabilize Somalia and cooperate in security and military operations.
Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia to pursue Al-Shabaab fighters after the recent abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya heightened tensions in East Africa. Kenya invoked the U.N. charter allowing military action in self-defense against its largely lawless neighbor.The abductions are part of a "recent spate of blatant attacks" that are part of "a changed strategy by Al-Shabaab calculated to terrorize civilians," the communique said.
"If you are attacked by an enemy, you have to pursue that enemy through hot pursuit and to try (to) hit wherever that enemy is," said Kenyan Defense Minister Yusuf Haji in a news conference that aired Sunday on CNN affiliate NTV.Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda, has been fighting to impose its interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, on Somalia. The group issued a statement Tuesday, however, denying responsibility for the abductions.
"These are mere suppositions unfounded in any solid evidence," the statement said. "Kenyan authorities have been seeking justification for an aggressive incursion on to Somali territory."On September 11, armed bandits broke into a beachfront cottage where Britons Judith and David Tebbutt, both in their 50s, were staying. David Tebbutt was shot dead while trying to resist the attack. His wife was grabbed and spirited away on a speedboat, and is believed to have been taken into Somalia.On October 1, pirates made another cross-border raid, this time snatching a French woman in her 60s from a holiday home on Manda Island where she lived part of the year.Earlier this month, gunmen abducted two Spanish workers from the medical charity Doctors Without Borders from the Dadaab refugee complex, about 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) from the Somali border.
Kenya announced its new tactics days after African Union forces claimed victory against Al-Shabaab in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The military said last week it had taken the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds in the far northeast of the city."The challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week, as they attempt to rebuild their lives," said Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the African Union Mission in Somalia. He was referring to a suicide truck bombing in Mogadishu this month that left dozens dead. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. Other Al-Shabaab attacks that week led to the deaths of at least 10 civilians.
Federal and African Union forces have battled Al-Shabaab in the impoverished and chaotic nation for years. Many analysts believe the military push has severely affected Al-Shabaab, along with targeted strikes against organization members and the weakening of al Qaeda.Al-Shabaab said in August it was withdrawing from Mogadishu, and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, now controls most districts of the capital, the U.N. office has said.However, the group still poses a threat, Ankunda has said.
A Frenchwoman kidnapped from her holiday home in northern Kenya and taken to Somalia has died, the French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.A gang of 10 armed men seized Marie Dedieu this month from her home on Manda Island, prompting a sea battle between Kenyan forces and her abductors.Kenyan officials sent mediators into Somalia a day later to negotiate her release.Dedieu lived in a luxury home on the scenic Lamu archipelago for about six months out of the year. Kenyan officials and an acquaintance said the woman, in her 60s, used a wheelchair and was not in good health.
"The contacts through which the French government was trying to release Marie Dedieu ... have announced her death," the ministry said in a statement, adding the date and circumstances of the death cannot be specified.The ministry said Dedieu's death "is almost sure" even if it does not have her body."She was an ill and disabled woman," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said. "This is therefore a deeply barbaric and violent act. France condemns firmly this act.""Marie Dedieu's health, the uncertainty about the conditions of her detention, the fact that the abductors had probably refused to give her the medication we had sent her, make us think that this tragic end is unfortunately the most plausible one," the ministry statement said.Dedieu's friends and relatives have been notified, it said.
"The French government wants to say that it is deeply moved, saddened and that it supports Marie Dedieu's relatives," the statement said. "The government also wants to express its indignation following the complete lack of humanity and cruelty from the abductors of our compatriot. We want them to be identified and brought to justice."The statement said the government is requesting "the repatriation of our compatriot's body."The Kenyan government sent its condolences to Dedieu's "family, friends and colleagues" in a statement Wednesday.
"The kidnapping and detention of Marie Dedieu was a terror act not only against her, but also against Kenya, her home country France and the entire world," the statement said."... The Kenyan government thanks the French government and the people of France for their continued support even during this moment of loss."Dedieu's abduction was the second in the area in a month, a major blow to Kenya, which relies on tourism dollars.
Gunmen seized British tourist Judith Tebbutt and killed her husband near Lamu last month. Security analysts have said Tebbutt is being held by pirates in a remote corner of Somalia. British government officials have asked journalists not to reveal her exact location to avoid abduction attempts from rival gangs.France and Britain warned travelers to avoid the Kenyan coastline near Somalia in the wake of the abductions.
Kenyan officials have said they believe the kidnappings are carried out by the Al-Shabaab Somali militant group. A third incident involved the kidnapping of two Spanish aid workers at the Dadaab refugee camp last week.Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia this week to pursue the militant fighters after the kidnappings heightened tensions in East Africa.In the statement Wednesday, the Kenyan government said operations against Al-Shabaab were continuing.
Islamic militants in Somalia have threatened to "come into Kenya" if Kenyan forces do not leave Somalia, according to an online message posted on a jihadist website."Kenyan troops have entered 100 kilometers into Somalia, and their planes are bombarding and killing residents," said Sheikh Ali Mahmud Ragi, spokesman for Al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group considered a terrorist organization by the United States, in the posting. "We shall come into Kenya if you do not go back."
Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia to pursue Al-Shabaab fighters after the recent abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya heightened tensions in East Africa. Kenya invoked the United Nations charter allowing military action in self-defense against its largely lawless neighbor."If you are attacked by an enemy, you have to pursue that enemy through hot pursuit and to try (to) hit wherever that enemy is," said Kenyan Defense Minister Yusuf Haji in a news conference aired on CNN affiliate NTV on Sunday.Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda, has been fighting to impose its own interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, on Somalia.On September 11, armed bandits broke into a beachfront cottage where Britons Judith and David Tebbutt, both in their 50s, were staying. David Tebbutt was shot dead while trying to resist the attack. His wife was grabbed and spirited away onboard a speedboat, and is believed to have been taken into Somalia.
On October 1, pirates made another cross-border raid, this time snatching a French woman in her 60s from a holiday home on Manda Island where she lived part of the year.Earlier this month, gunmen abducted two Spanish workers from the medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) from the Dadaab refugee complex, about 80 kilometers from the Somali border.Kenya announced its new tactics days after African Union forces claimed victory against Al-Shabaab in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The military said last week it had taken the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds in the far northeast of the city.
"The challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week, as they attempt to rebuild their lives," African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said. He was referring to a suicide truck bombing in Mogadishu earlier this month that left dozens dead. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. Other Al-Shabaab attacks that week led to the deaths of at least 10 civilians.
Federal and African Union forces have battled Al-Shabaab in the impoverished and chaotic nation for years. Many analysts believe the AMISOM military push has severely affected Al-Shabaab, along with targeted strikes against organization members and the weakening of al Qaeda.Al-Shabaab said in August it was withdrawing from Mogadishu, and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, now controls most districts of the capital city, the United Nations office has said.However, the group still poses a threat, Ankunda has previously said.
