*Al-Shabaab fighters have driftED towards Kismayu to escape the ground operation in some of the areas already captured in Southern and central Somalia


After an 18-week military advance of roughly 95,000 square km territory into Somalia, the Kenyan armed forces have ruled out laying a siege on the strategic port town of Kismayu, often regarded as the ultimate prize in the war.

"The success so far is unimaginable.

"It would not give us any tactical advantage to advance to Kismayu if the areas under control are not yet stable," said Kenya Defence Forces (KDF)’s Director of Military Operations in charge of Information Colonel Cyrus Oguna.

The military official emphasized on the need for destroying the militia’s support elements including their source of income, command bases and their infrastructure.

"It would have taken a year to capture," he said, explaining the tactical effort that would have been mounted into an operation of this magnitude.

Oguna said a military operation covering a massive border area measuring 860 km would have taken several months to capture from marauding fighters from across the border, which still posed a real threat to the security of the East African nation.

"It has been possible only because they (troops) are committed to the cause," he said, while explaining the need to slow down the pace of military advance to focus on pacifying the almost a critical segment of the borderline, measuring some 110 km.

"What the soldiers have been doing and must continue doing is to make sure that it is stable to carry out pacification.

"The pacification here is tedious, time consuming and is also very dangerous so it would not give us any advantage," Oguna said.

Kismayu, Somalia’s third largest city is considered the hub of the militant group, Al-Shabaab, which formally merged with the dreaded global terror network, the al Qaida, after several years of pledging loyalty and ideological similarities.

With almost a sixth of the entire Somali territory covered militarily, the Kenyan soldiers say there is every reason to remain vigilant against possible incursion following this week’s public ceremony to welcome Al-Shabaab into the al Qaida.

Although the tactical plan at the moment is to go slow on the siege on Kismayu, the forces have been actively gathering intelligence on the ground, sources told Xinhua on Sunday.

Kenya’s military has acquired high-tech equipment to enhance the information gathering from Kismayu as it puts in place a concrete battle plan, the source added.

They include tactical aircraft mounted with cameras to enhance surveillance.

Oguna said after capturing the 95,000 km out of Somalia’s 637, 657 square km, the area under the troops control was huge and it would make less sense to expand further.

"What this means is that the revenue sources for Al-Shabaab have been disrupted and the contraband routes from Kenya have been blocked," Oguna said.

In the earlier stages of the operation Linda Nchi, troops rapidly advanced towards the towns of Hayo and headed towards Afmadhow in what was considered an effective siege on the port city of Kismayu.

But the Al-Shabaab reacted by mounting a resistance in the areas of Tabda to defend its military supply corridors to keep its hold on some areas.

While international aid agencies accuse the troops of targeting fleeing civilians, the soldiers insist it is increasingly harder to differentiate between the civilians and the Al-Shabaab fighters.

"The Al-Shabaab is moving with the local civilians.

When the locals flee, they also flee, we have to get a system to ensure that only civilians can flee into liberated areas," Oguna told Xinhua.

"This (Al-Shabaab) is not a conventional force.

"It is for this reason that any gains cannot be taken without pacification."

Oguna also reiterated his position that the east African nation which launched crossed border incursion into Somali last October has no immediate intention of leaving Somalia and would only do so after restoring security in the region.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) on Feb. 15 called on Kenyan military not to extend its intervention in Somalia and instead focus on exit strategy to avoid sparking local resistance and retaliation.

The think tank said Kenya should articulate a clear plan and strategy to support its military actions and ensure lasting peace along the Somalia border.

"As Kenya advances into southern Somalia, it must act cautiously and avoid prolonged ‘occupation’, lest it turn local opinion against the operation and galvanise opposition Al-Shabaab can co-opt, much as happened to Ethiopia in 2006-200," ICG said in its latest report which was released in Nairobi.

ICG said targeting Kismayo port, Al-Shabaab’s main money source, makes sense, but to limit its own as well as civilian casualties, it should allow time for an economic blockade (with humanitarian aid exceptions) and attrition from multiple-front combat to weaken its increasingly unpopular enemy and produce shifts in local support.

The group said the potential for getting bogged down is high, the risks of an Al-Shabaab retaliatory terror campaign are real, and the prospects for a viable, extremist-free and stable polity emerging in the Juba Valley are slim.

The Juba Valley is the epicentre of extremist groups.

The policy group said the decision to intervene was partly to ease the refugee burden, but also to protect Kenya which hosts more than 500 Somali refugees, from the Horn of Africa nation’s crisis by establishing a local administration, Jubaland, in southern Somalia as a buffer between it and Al-Shabaab-controlled territory.

It said the project is not inconsistent with the feelings of many inhabitants of Juba, "but it could lead to unintended consequences," adding that inclusive local administration is crucial if peace is to come to the region which has been under control of the militants for many years.

The Al-Shabaab recently organized demonstrations in Kismayu to show public backing for its formal membership of the al Qaida, military spokesperson, Major Emmanuel Chirchir said earlier.

"The Kismayu demonstration already on, agenda Al Shabaab merger and Somali London Conference. Forced demonstration," Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said.

Intelligence shows the Al-Shabaab fighters have been drifting towards Kismayu to escape the ground operation in some of the areas already captured in Southern and central Somalia, while some of its top commanders evacuated family to Somaliland.

"Their sources of revenue have been disrupted and they have been receding towards Kismayu. We see them cede more ground as we push forward," Oguna said.