Senior Kenya Defence Force officials were over the weekend forced to airlift water and food supplies to troops marching towards Kismayu after Al Shabaab insurgent fighters dropped poison in one well and vandalised pipes from another in Jana Cabdalla area forty kilometers to the port city.
Military helicopters and vehicles were dispatched to Jana Cabdalla to supply water to troops in three sections of the frontline after the Al Qaeda linked insurgents desperate to stop the AMISOM march to Kismayu poisoned wells. "There has been a problem of water in Jana Cabdalla after Al Shabaab put poison in one well and vandalized the other well. The problem is being addressed. Today, the troops got some water supply and more will be delivered," KDF Information Operation officer Colonel Cyrus Oguna said yesterday.
Troops had complained that several of them had suffered dehydration due to lack of water and the fact that they have been feeding on dry rations popularly known as 'dry rats'. Intense fighting closer to Kismayu has posed logistical challenges to the AMISOM troops in the recent days.
Following the capture by KDF and SNA in the last two weeks of Miido, Biibi, Harbole, Sooyac, Jana Cabdalla which have been strategic villages to the insurgents, the capability to defend the port city have diminished. However, the last group of fighters are regrouping in their bid to give strong resistance to the AMISOM troops.
Although many civilians have left the port city in anticipation of the AMISOM assault, there are concerns that there are likely to be may civilian casualties among innocent people who are being held in Kismayu by the insurgents as human shields against their will. KDF has expressed concern over civilians and revealed that they are creating a safe passage for those leaving the area.
KDF Special Forces are expected to play a major role in the last assault to counter the last group of foreign Al Shabaab snipers. Al Shabaab has also been known to use armour piercing ammunition. Col. Oguna yesterday said that troops were being supported well but KDF was being careful not to expose aircraft at the frointline.
" The aircraft are being kept away from the frontline but our 'casuavac' (casualty evacuation) is the most effective in the section. In military operation procedures you do not keep aircraft at the frontline. But no operations have been effective in evacuations like KDF's. Our casevac operations is the best. It is a morale issue and we ensure that they are airlifted immediately," Col. Oguna said yesterday.
BY DOMINIC WABALA,
