Kenya's march to find militants in Somalia fruitless so far
KATHARINE HOURELD BUR GARBO, SOMALIA
- Dec 18 2011 12:31
Kenyan troops marched into a decaying Somalian fishing village two months
ago, but the al Qaida-linked al-Shabaab militants they came to hunt are
still nowhere to be seen.
Kenya's military says it's getting ready to push forward with its offensive
against the al-Shabaab insurgents, who are blamed for attacks on Kenyan soil
and tourist kidnappings.
For now, though, the soldiers spend their days among ramshackle huts and
along the sandy shoreline without cover or body armour.
"The more they delay, the more time al-Shabaab has to prepare. They have
already been making strong propaganda to make people afraid," Somali
government spokesperson Abdirahman Omar Osman said. "The confidence of
people that al-Shabab will be defeated is dying down."
The town of Bur Garbo is only 100 kilometres away from Kismayo, the
insurgency's main stronghold. Residents report that al-Shabaab militants are
already digging trenches and tunnels around another strategically located
town in the area.
Potshots across the river
But the militants in Bur Garbo have retreated to heavily wooded banks across
a creek, where they occasionally exchange pot-shots across the river with
the Kenyan soldiers.
"We haven't really seen much of the enemy", said the soldier in charge of
the village, Major Solomon Wandege. "But we know they are there and we are
on our guard".
Around him, mud and stick houses lean drunkenly over footpaths overgrown
with weeds. On the beach, bleached fishing boats bake in the sun -- the
Kenyans have forbidden them to go out too far "for security reasons". Near
the green patch cleared as a helicopter landing, soldiers have thrown
camouflage mesh over artillery guns. So far, there's been no one to shoot
them at.
In January, Somalia's civil war will enter its 21st year. The Kenyans are
just the latest in a long line of forces to arrive in Bur Garbo. They have
Humvees; helicopters; and ration packs with canned pineapple, Weetabix and
powdered milk for tea. But there are no Kenyan civilians along to reach out
to Somali civilians. Nation-building, the Kenyans insist, is not on the
cards.
As any Somali will tell you, it's easy to take ground in Somalia. It's
holding it that's hard. Just ask the Americans. Their involvement, and that
of a subsequent UN mission, ended in 1994 after Somali fighters shot down
two US Black Hawk helicopters, killing 18 Americans. A generation later,
nothing has changed.
'Never seen a government'
"We have never seen a government here," said 19-year-old Khadija Ali
Ibrahim, folding her arms across her long black robes.
She'd like someone to set one up, she said, because she thinks it could help
people. Right now the town is loosely governed by elders, but they don't
have the power or resources to make any improvements. Ibrahim has never been
further from her home in her life than Kismayo -- where the Kenyans say they
are now heading.
"We are here to defeat al-Shabab. We are committed," said Kenyan Major Seif
Rashid, who carries two magazines of ammunition velcroed across his chest.
"So far we've had a degree of acceptance because we've brought an element of
security. But unless people's lives improve, they will eventually turn
against us."
The Kenyans have been counting on international aid groups to prop up their
counterinsurgency campaign -- the phrase "hearts and minds" crops up
repeatedly in conversations with the soldiers. But the humanitarians say
they target the weakest, not the most strategically important, and that
they're not interested in following the Kenyan army around.
The Kenyans may find it hard to explain these distinctions to the Somalis,
especially since they shut down the town's two main revenue sources --
fishing and the charcoal trade -- because they didn't want strange boats
coming close to shore.
Rifles and uniforms from the Kenyans
"We want the rest of the world to assist us. There is insecurity here. There
is no food," said Mohamed Farah Ali, the bearded commander of the local
Somali forces in town.
The Kenyans describe the Somali fighters as government soldiers, but they're
really closer to a clan militia. The weak UN-backed government only holds
onto the capital, with the help of nearly 10 000 African Union peacekeepers.
Government forces in the capital are paid for by Italy and the US Somali
government influence in Bur Garbo is nil. The Somalis here say they are paid
by the Kenyans.
They have rifles from the Kenyans too, and uniforms, they say, motioning to
the olive green trousers they wear above the plastic flip flops. Since the
Kenyans are paying them -- for now -- they don't have to prey on the
civilian population. Or so the families say, as the soldiers lean in to
listen to the journalists' questions.
But if the Kenyans leave, or there's a problem with payments, or not enough
to eat, then the Somali fighters may start to extract the type of taxes that
eventually made al-Shabaab so unpopular.
And the militia, or its heirs, will be waiting somewhere, ready to
re-emerge. For now, they are just across the river. -- Sapa-AP
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Received on Sun Dec 18 2011 - 11:48:51 EST