SOMALIA (BDCi) – Thousands of Somalis fled a camp for the displaced near Somalia’s capital on Sunday, fearing a clash between African Union peacekeepers and the al-Qaida-linked militants who are trying to exert their strength and power.
In the country’s south, others braced for fierce battles as Kenyan soldiers closed in on a militant-held town in their weeklong effort to defeat the al-Shabab group blamed for suicide bombings, kidnapping foreigners and killing famine victims.
Kenyan military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said the French navy bombed the town of Kuday near the southern al-Shabab stronghold of Kismayo on Saturday night.
U.S officials told AP last week that the United States had been pressuring Kenya to “do something” in response to a string of security incidents along the Kenya-Somalia border, but that Kenya’s invasion of Somalia took the U.S by surprise.
By: Natania Levine Courtesy: abcnews.com Photo: timesonline.com 24 October 2011
10:37 a.m P.D.T