The Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist Al Shabaab fighting Somalia forces for supremacy and control over vast areas of the trouble-beset Horn of Africa country released, Monday, images of a post its fighters recaptured after units of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) abandoned them two days earlier.
According to an Al Shabaab spokesperson, they found dry and canned foodstuffs, ammunition, and an assortment of equipment hastily abandoned at the post. He said they also found the place hygienically unfit to live in with the absence of toilets with soldiers using their dugouts to relieve themselves.
The spokesperson accused the KDF of keeping surrounding areas denuded of vegetation thus contributing to the desertification of the area.
The KDF manned the forward operation post of Fafahdun, Gedo region of the Jubaland federal State of Somalia, for over nine years before they packed up and left the area open for Shabaab re-occupation last Saturday.
The images show how the soldiers keeping a 24-hour guard over the area were prepared to fight to the last man inside the heavily fortified compound they built in the wilderness. the vastness of the area, far from home and civilization, also showed what an impossible-looking job the AU-supported AMISOM unit was tasked to uphold.
The Shabaab spokesperson claimed KDF forces that had hitherto formed the backbone of the Somalia National Forces (SNA) and Jubaland military drive against the militants, now only remained at a single post in the area called Bussar.
Following the acrimonious maritime dispute with Somalia, Kenya has vowed sanctions and other specified pressures on Somalia. The withdrawal of its troops from key areas bares the FGS and its forces to at-will raids from the fighters scenting blood and new ground gains.
Kenya has been one of the first countries to come to the aid of the beleaguered nation. Its first troops arrived in October 2011. The KDF, presently having a troop strength of 3664, is responsible for Sector 2, Jubaland, of the AMISOM operations, headquartered in Kismayo port city.
