US says has no military operation outside Kenya borders

US ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration
© AFP/File Ashraf Shazly

NAIROBI (AFP) – The US ambassador to Kenya said Friday the United States does not have any military operation outside Kenya but will continue to give support inside the country, which has sent troops to Somalia to fight Al-Qaeda-linked rebels.

“We do not have a military operation outside of the borders of Kenya. We continue to help in the partnership with Kenya inside the country,” Scott Gration told journalists after meeting Kenyan Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and military chief General Julius Karangi.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that the US Air Force is flying armed drones from a civilian airport in southern Ethiopia as part of a growing battle against the radical Islamist Al-Shebab insurgents.

The airfield in Arba Minch is part of a network of secret bases for unmanned aircraft in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula, the Post reported, citing unnamed US officials.

“Today we did have an opportunity to review the situation both on the military operation that is going on in Somalia and the Kenyan terrorist security operation that is going in Kenya,” Graton said.

“And I pledged our support to continue assisting Kenya in their internal operations inside Kenya because we remain partners,” he added.

Also on Friday one of the two Kenyan soldiers injured in the army’s first ground-to-ground engagement in southern Somalia succumbed to his injuries, army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said.

“One of the two soldiers who was critically injured in the Al-Shebab attack that took place in Tabda, has unfortunately passed on while receiving treatment at the Defence Forces Memorial Hospital,” he said.

“This loss goes to strengthen our objective to defeat Al Shebab in order to attain peace for Kenyans and the Somalia populace,” he added.

The soldier, who has not been identified, is the first Kenyan casualty in the offensive that Nairobi launched two weeks ago after the abduction of several foreigners in Kenya that it blames on Shebab extremists — charges the Shebab deny.

Troops and tanks have pushed some 100 kilometres (60 miles) into Shebab-controlled southern Somalia, but their progress has been severely hampered by heavy rains.