French military intervention in Somalia

Shabaab fighters engaged in a battle open with Kenyan forces (Al-Jazeera - Archive)



Kenya revealed that the Western forces - are likely to be French - launched attacks onpositions of the Young Mujahideen Movement in Somalia, the first Western military intervention in this country for nearly two decades.



The Kenyan army in a statement that the French navy bombed Saturday night near thetown of Kodai-Shabaab stronghold of Kismayo in the south.



For his part, said military spokesman said a Kenyan partners, Western Kenya - likely to be the United States or France - was behind the air strikes took place during the last daysand led to the deaths of a number of al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.



One diplomat said - Nairobi-based to him - last week that France launched military attacksin Somalia, which was denied by French officials in Paris, while not suspended and news agencies and the French press on this development in the field.



He denied two senior U.S. officials in Washington on Sunday that U.S. military forces orthe CIA was involved in launching air strikes in Somalia in recent days.



He said one of officials say that the Kenyan troops managed to disperse the militants and leaders of the movement of young people, making them "easy targets".

Kismayo

The News reports that the fighters are believed to be Kenyan military launched air strikeson the violent port city of Kismayo after the Sunday afternoon, two unmanned targetpopulation located between the port of Kismayo and the international petroleum reservoirsprecedent.


Did not result in any damage to the aerial bombardment of human existence and notcivilians or fighters during the attack, the first since the control of the Mujahideen Youth Movement of Kismayo in August / August 2008.


The latest aerial bombardment of civilians in shock, while the Somali observers saw that a strong indicator of escalating clashes between the Kenyan government and the movement of young people.


It is noteworthy that the Kenyan air launched during the past two weeks, heavy shelling of cities and villages located in the state of Lower Juba, including Qoghani and Tapto and Ras Kamboni.


The Kenyan government has admitted that its troops incursion deep into Somali territory, a distance of 100 km to fight Shabaab.


On the other hand threatened to move the battle to a depth of Kenya in response to theforces seized the Kenyan Somali cities strategy.


Source: Island Press The Associated Press U.S.