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US Troops Deploy to Fight Lord's Resistance Army
October 18, 2011
Luis Ramirez | Pentagon
U.S. troops have been deploying in central Africa to help the forces of Uganda and other nations fight the Lords Resistance Army [L.R.A.]. The deployment is the largest U.S. attempt yet to eradicate the group known for its ruthless campaign of killing, rape, and its use of child soldiers over the past two decades.
U.S. troops are landing in Uganda and from there may deploy to the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan - areas were the L.R.A. - a scattered force whose numbers are estimated to be around 400 - are operating.
The U.S. troops are combat-ready and have instructions to fight if attacked, but Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said the U.S. troops mission is limited to helping Ugandan soldiers and the armies of other nations stamp out the L.R.A.
The mission for these 100 or so special operations forces is really just advise and assist, and help train local forces to deal with that threat. That is the scope of what they are going to be doing. That is the limit to what they are going to be doing, said Kirby.
The deployment culminates years of efforts by human-rights groups and others to raise awareness in the halls of the U.S. Congress and at the White House of the need for Washington to step in and tackle one of the most violent and vicious militia groups, and its leader Joseph Kony.
Jennifer Cooke, who directs the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies research group, said, The U.S. Congress has passed in 2009 legislation calling on the president to lay out a strategy to protect civilians, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony, and to improve humanitarian access to the region. And I think this is a concerted effort once and for all to help the governments of that region to eliminate the threat, the threat from the L.R.A."
That threat does not directly affect U.S. national security, but Washington sees Uganda as a solid partner in the region, most notably in peacekeeping efforts in Somalia.
Brookings Institution defense analyst Michael OHanlon said deploying a small number of U.S. troops to help Uganda fight the L.R.A. is a small investment that could yield big returns for the United States.
To the extent the United States has any interest in Somalia being stabilized, it has an interest in seeing the Ugandan government able to keep its own country together, and able to keep it its own forces partially deployed to Somalia in order to help with that country where there have been al-Qaida related groups in the past.
Advocate John Bradshaw prefers not to speculate on possible U.S. motives. He directs the Enough Project, a U.S. group that works to eliminate genocide and crimes against humanity, primarily in Africas Great Lakes region. To Bradshaw, what is important is that Washington is taking action, providing support that he said could help protect civilians.
A lot of that is information-sharing, having communities get timely alerts about possible L.R.A. action, improving communications equipment, putting up cell phone towers so that vulnerable populations are forewarned when attacks might happen, said Bradshaw.
For two decades, Uganda and other nations have been unable to wipe out the L.R.A. The group has broken up into smaller units and dispersed across borders through the jungle terrain. OHanlon said the U.S. military will bring some of the capabilities developed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition to training, which we are obviously pretty good at with some of our special forces, we also know how to do things like listen to cell phone communication and watch people with drones. Watching them with drones in the jungle is harder than watching them with drones in the desert, but we have gotten better at some of these things and we may be able to impart some of our lessons and best practices to the Ugandans.
U.S. leaders hope that with this knowledge and technology, even 100 troops can make a difference.
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"The Standard" posted:
Kenyan troops were by Monday evening moving quickly to secure the town of Afmadow in Somalia, 100 kilometres from the border.
It comes just two days after the Kenyan armed forces captured another key town, Qoqani, following two days of heavy aerial and ground bombardment. Afmadow is the town where two Kenyan soldiers, Evan Mutoro and Jonathan Kangogo, captured by Al-Shabaab militia on July 24, were detained before being taken by their captors to the coastal town of Kismayu. The two soldiers are still unaccounted for.
"The Kenyan troops supported by tanks and other military vehicles have taken up positions near Qoqani," Saleban Mohamed, an elder in a nearby village, told AFP news agency.
"I saw around 32 trucks and tanks, with hundreds of troops," he added.
Military helicopter. Government says it is in Somalia for the long haul vowing to fight Al-Shabaab to the end. Photo: File/Standard
"The Kenyan soldiers are heavily armed and they have started digging trenches near Qoqani," Abdulahi Sayid Adam, another witness said.
But there was some sad news after a military helicopter exploded seconds after take off from Liboi Airstrip in Garissa, killing five soldiers including the pilot.
Department of Defence officials blamed the crash on a technical fault. The soldiers, a major, a sergeant, two privates and a technician were killed when their China-made Dolphine helicopter crashed and caught fire, military sources told The Standard.
"It crashed while taking off and caught fire, all the five soldiers on board died. It was not brought down," said Military Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.
Armoured vehicles
The soldiers were reportedly taking missiles to the war front inside Somalia when the incident occurred, the source said.
The helicopter exploded about 500 metres from Liboi Airstrip.
Kenya continued to flex its aerial prowess as it rained bombs on strategic Al-Shabaab strongholds, pushing its assault deeper toward central Somalia. At the same time, the Government announced it was ready to fight Al-Shabaab to its logical conclusion, adding that the military offensive against the terror group, dubbed "Operation Linda Nchi" (Operation Protect Kenya) would continue until the militia are subdued.
Kenyan troops combed villages in Somalia in hot pursuit of the militia with armoured vehicles, as its fighter jets overflew the enemys territory.
Witnesses said they saw dozens of Kenyan military vehicles pouring over the border, backed by planes and helicopters even as reports said Al-Shabaab, which denies kidnapping Kenyans and foreigners, had amassed more men to back up its militia in Afmadow where they were being pinned down by the heavy firepower of the Kenya army and air force.
Quoting witnesses, AFP reported that Al-Shabaab commanders confiscated at least 100 trucks late Sunday from the Lower Shabelle region, outside the capital Mogadishu, to transport gunmen southwards.
Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti and Defence minister Mohammed Yusuf Haji said military operations against Al-Shabaab would be sustained until "desired effects" are achieved, blaming the group for a spate of kidnappings, sea piracy and killings of Kenyans and foreigners.
Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula said troops went across the border on the request of Somalias Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which controls very little territory, but is backed by the international community.
"What we are doing is in pursuit of a request by the Government of Somalia, and also our own interest as a country to fight a group that is terror-based," said Wetangula.
By "desired effects", the ministers implied that Kenyas military hopes to degrade Al-Shabaabs capacity to launch cross-border attacks on land and in the Indian Ocean.
They justified that attacks on Al-Shabaab inside Somalia are legitimate self-defence acts to protect lives and the economy in accordance with the UN charter and international law.
Defence Minister Haji said that Kenyan police and military forces will pursue the Somalia extremist group in its bases in the centre and south of the war-torn country to eliminate immediate security threats near the border and protect shipping lines in the Indian Ocean from pirates who operate with support of the terror group.
Saitoti declared the operation a legitimate response of self-defence against "a chronology of provocation by Al-Shabaab."
The two spoke after meeting Parliaments Defence and Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the operation.
Saitoti enumerated a host of abductions of Kenyans and foreigners, which he blamed on Al-Shabaab and said the Government received intelligence that the extremist militia "continued to recruit Kenyans into its ranks."
He said Al-Shabaab shelled a Kenyan security post near Liboi last month and was responsible for landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in Mandera in July. On September 8, Al-Shabaab claimed to hold two Kenyan officers in Kismayu, a coastal city in the Indian Ocean, after initially detaining them in Afmadow.
Haji did not name a third soldier in his account but said the two were abducted after "their vehicle broke down and they were sent to seek assistance."
Saitoti said under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Kenyan forces will engage in security and military operations in "self-defence" and geared to "preventing aggression".
Hideout
The minister said Kenya would step up aerial border surveillance and provide armed escorts to locals, tourists and expatriates.
Haji said that besides abducting the two soldiers, Al-Shabaab had tried to attack the port of Mombasa and ambush ships off the Kenyan coast in September.
The Defence minister said that lately, Al-Shabaab was acting in concert with pirates and had attacked vessels entering Kenyan waters.
In what appeared to be a well-calculated and aptly prepared military assault, more troops were lined up in strategic positions as aerial and ground combat forces launched missiles in the open sandy grounds of Somalia and hideouts of the terrorists. Kenyas disciplined officers will be backing TFG forces in a bid to find a lasting solution to instability in the country that has been at war for two decades.
Maj Chirchir also confirmed that the chopper was part of a contingent of military personnel and hardware that had been deployed to pursue Al-Shabaab militia following insecurity on the Kenya-Somalia border.
The five are the first casualties Kenya has suffered in the onslaught against the militants in Somalia that heightened when they kidnapped two Spanish aid workers.
Kenya has military bases in Wajir, Liboi and Hulugho. GSU personnel are also at hand to support the army.
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