MOGADISHU - Kenyan and Somali forces pursued rebel al Shabab fighters in southern Somalia yesterday in an offensive to drive militants linked to a wave of Western kidnappings away from Kenya's border.
Warplanes launched air strikes on two al Shabab bases over the weekend and a Somali military commander said his troops were closing in on the town of Afmadow, previously a rebel stronghold.
Pressured to beef up security along its porous frontier after a string of attacks on Westerners by gunmen thought to be connected to the al-Qaeda-linked rebels, Kenya is desperate to limit damage to its reputation as a relatively secure tourism and investment destination.
East Africa's biggest economy has long looked nervously at its anarchic neighbour and its troops have made brief incursions into Somali territory in the past. The latest operation appeared to be a significant escalation in military involvement but one which also risks dragging Kenya deeper into Somalia's two-decade civil war and raises the risk of retaliatory attacks on Kenyan interests by al Shabab.
Keen to avoid a spillover of violence by al-Qaeda-trained foreign jihadists seeking haven in Somalia as well as al Shabab rebels entrenched in the south, Nairobi has in the past contemplated creating a buffer zone along its border.
Kenya has already trained thousands of newly recruited Somali soldiers to man the frontier. It also provides logistical and intelligence support to Somali government troops and government-friendly militia.
The kidnapping of a British and a French woman from the north Kenyan coast in two separate incidents and the abduction of two Spanish aid workers from a refugee camp last week has threatened Kenya's lucrative tourism sector and forced the government to show it can defend its frontiers.
The militants denied they were behind the kidnappings but security sources say both women are being held in al Shabab controlled territory in central Somalia, highlighting cooperation between the militants and criminal networks such as pirates who hijack vessels in the Indian Ocean.
Hunt for rebels intensified
MOGADISHU - Kenyan and Somali forces pursued rebel al Shabab fighters in southern Somalia yesterday in an offensive to drive militants linked to a wave of Western kidnappings away from Kenya's border.
Warplanes launched air strikes on two al Shabab bases over the weekend and a Somali military commander said his troops were closing in on the town of Afmadow, previously a rebel stronghold.
Pressured to beef up security along its porous frontier after a string of attacks on Westerners by gunmen thought to be connected to the al-Qaeda-linked rebels, Kenya is desperate to limit damage to its reputation as a relatively secure tourism and investment destination.
East Africa's biggest economy has long looked nervously at its anarchic neighbour and its troops have made brief incursions into Somali territory in the past. The latest operation appeared to be a significant escalation in military involvement but one which also risks dragging Kenya deeper into Somalia's two-decade civil war and raises the risk of retaliatory attacks on Kenyan interests by al Shabab.
Keen to avoid a spillover of violence by al-Qaeda-trained foreign jihadists seeking haven in Somalia as well as al Shabab rebels entrenched in the south, Nairobi has in the past contemplated creating a buffer zone along its border.
Kenya has already trained thousands of newly recruited Somali soldiers to man the frontier. It also provides logistical and intelligence support to Somali government troops and government-friendly militia.
The kidnapping of a British and a French woman from the north Kenyan coast in two separate incidents and the abduction of two Spanish aid workers from a refugee camp last week has threatened Kenya's lucrative tourism sector and forced the government to show it can defend its frontiers.
The militants denied they were behind the kidnappings but security sources say both women are being held in al Shabab controlled territory in central Somalia, highlighting cooperation between the militants and criminal networks such as pirates who hijack vessels in the Indian Ocean.
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