Somalia Accuses Kenya Over Kismayo Clashes

US-backed Kenyan Defense Forces have launched a naval and ground assault on the southern Somalia port city of Kismayo. Washington has assembled a 17,000-person army to occupy the Horn of Africa nation., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

4 July 2013
Last updated at 06:46 ET

Somalia accuses Kenya over Kismayo clashes

By Mark Doyle
BBC International Development Correspondent

The apparently accidental publication of a diplomatic letter has exposed a rift between the Somali government and Kenyan troops - supposedly allies.

The letter, verified as genuine by the BBC, accuses the Kenyan army of causing recent faction fighting that left at least 65 dead in the port of Kismayo.

Kenyan troops are part of the African Union force battling Islamist militants in support of the UN-backed government.

The Kenyan authorities have not yet commented on the letter in detail.

Some regional diplomats say Kenya is trying to create a buffer state, known as Jubaland, inside Somalia run by local politicians it can control.

'Incompetent'

The letter is from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fawzia Yusuf Adam - who is also the deputy prime minister - to the African Union.
It is headed "Extremely Urgent - Kismayo conflict".

A diplomat in Mogadishu said the letter appeared to have been emailed to journalists in error.

It seems, the diplomat said, that someone mistakenly added the prime minister's "press contacts" into the email recipients' list.

A senior official in the president's office confirmed to the BBC that the letter was genuine.

The communication accuses the Kenyans, who are part of the African Union peacekeeping force, Amisom, of not being neutral peacekeepers.

It says the Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) backed one Somali faction against others, arrested a senior Somali government army officer and used heavy weapons in areas containing civilians.

What the letter bluntly called the
"incompetence" of the Kenyan commander of Amisom in southern Somalia is said to have caused an outbreak of recent fighting in the southern port city of Kismayo that had led to a "preliminary" count of 65 dead and 155 injured.

The Kenyan Amisom contingent was recently reinforced by several hundred troops from Sierra Leone.

But the Sierra Leoneans are "embedded" inside Kenyan units, so the KDF is very much the dominant force in this part of Somalia, which is known in Amisom jargon as "Sector 2".

The letter calls for the "immediate deployment" of a multinational African peacekeeping force in southern Somalia.

It doesn't go as far to say the Kenyans should be replaced, but pointedly says new "political officers" should be appointed for the area "whose nationalities will be different from the Amisom contingent in Sector 2".

This explosive diplomatic letter has only just been revealed.

Kenya has not yet officially responded to it.

But the Kenyan army has earlier insisted it is neutral in its dealings with Somalia and is trying to bring peace to its neighbour.

The Somali government accusations may nevertheless confirm suspicions in the region that while the Kenyans are part of Amisom they also have their own agenda.

Kenyan forces seized the key port of Kismayo about 480km (300 miles) south of Mogadishu from the Islamist group al-Shabab in October 2012.

At the moment, there are several self-declared presidents of Jubaland and the government has said it recognises none of them.

Although the AU and Somali government have driven al-Shabab from most major cities, its fighters still control smaller towns and rural areas in central and southern Somalia and they sometimes launch attacks in government-controlled territory.

The new government, formed last year, is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


WHO: 71 Killed, 300 Wounded in Somalia Fighting

By ABDI GULED Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia July 4, 2013--At least 71 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in ongoing fighting between rival militias in the Somali city of Kismayo, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The clashes in the southern port city have displaced many and "continues to have a profound impact on civilians and humanitarian aid work" in the region, the United Nations health agency said.

Many of the victims suffered fractures, head and chest injuries. Nearly 40 patients had to be operated on, according to WHO.

Kismayo is currently the scene of intense, sporadic battles as rival militias fight for control of the strategic city. Somalia's central government accuses Kenyan troops stationed in Kismayo of backing one militia against others and wants the African Union —under whose auspices the Kenyans are deployed — to send a neutral force there.

Somalia's government has filed a complaint with the African Union in which it charges that the conduct of Kenyan troops in Kismayo is undermining military efforts against the Islamic militants of al-Shabab. Kenyan troops are accused of backing the Raskamboni brigade, a militia that helped them push al-Shabab out of Kismayo. The Raskamboni brigade is led by Ahmed Madobe, a key power broker around Kismayo who is not supported by Somalia's central government in the capital. Madobe's militia is fighting a group led by former warlord Barre Hirale.

Somalia's foreign ministry complained in a letter to the African Union this week that Kenyan troops in Kismayo had scuttled plans to have a united force there that is led by a Somali commander. Because of this, the letter said, "various clan factions" had formed, undermining peace and security in the wider Jubba region.

The letter said the conflict in Kismayo had given al-Shabab an "unwarranted lull at a critical time" and that momentum gathered against the militants "has come to a halt."

Kismayo is important for Kenya, which seeks a friendly buffer zone near its border with Somalia — one of the main reasons it sent troops to Somalia to fight al-Shabab in late 2011. But the rival militias now at war there appear to be interested in the economic engine of Kismayo. Its port generates large and reliable income, and has been the export point of Somali-made charcoal made illegal by the U.N.


SOMALIA: AU Special Representative calls on President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud and PM Farah Shirdoon’

JULY 4, 2013

The African Union Special Representative for Somalia (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif today paid courtesy calls on the President and Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

During the meetings with H.E Hassan Sheikh Mahamud and the Prime Minister, H.E Abdi Farah Shirdoon, they discussed issues of mutual concern and in particular the recent spate of violence in the port city of Kismayo.

The Special Representative and the President discussed ways of jointly alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the local population in Kismayo, alongside efforts by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

Recalling his statement of 29th June 13’ Ambassador Annadif reiterated AMISOM’s commitment to the welfare of the Somali people and said that the endeavor to ensure all Somalis can live a life devoid of insecurity and indignity remained at the core of AMISOM’s initiatives in line with the mandate.

“AMISOM continues to treat casualties from all sides injured during the recent fighting witnessed in parts of the port city.”

He stressed that AMISOM takes its mandate very seriously and will continue working with the Federal Government of Somalia and its Security Forces in securing and stabilizing Somalia in all four sectors of operation.

Source: AMISOM