Kenya raises concerns Eritrea arming Somalia’s
al-Shabab insurgency with secret flights

05 November, 2011 | Washington Post
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NAIROBI, Kenya
    — Kenya’s foreign
    minister summoned
    Eritrea’s ambassador
    on Friday and “raised
    concern” over the
    possibility that planes
    from Eritrea are
    supplying weapons to
    Somali militants
whom Kenyan forces are battling in southern Somalia.

Moses Wetangula said if that is the case, Kenya has “a series of
options” to deal with the situation. He did not say what those
options include.

“I raised concern about intelligence that we have and information
available that there is a possibility that arms supplies are flowing
from his country to al-Shabab,” Wetangula said.

“Make no mistake, Kenya will do everything possible to make sure,
one, that if it’s in our capacity, supplies to al-Shabab must be
stopped,” he said.

Eritrea denied this week that it is arming fighters in Somalia, and
Eritrea’s foreign minister is expected in Kenya shortly.

Kenya has said it believes three planes flew into southern Somalia
over the last week with weapons meant for al-Shabab fighters. The
military spokesman said Thursday that the military would shoot
down or bomb on the ground any unidentified planes it believes to
be supplying the al-Qaida-linked militants.

A July report by the U.N.’s Monitoring Group on Somalia and
Eritrea said that al-Shabab controls two large airports and one
former military airport with asphalt runways. The report also said
that illicit flights with weapons or fighters for Somali militants could
be originating from Eritrea, Yemen or the United Arab Emirates.

The U.N. report said Eritrea consistently denies providing military
support to armed groups in Somalia, but that “new information ...
not only confirms many previous allegations of Eritrean military
involvement, but also offers firm grounds to believe that Eritrea still
retains active linkages to Somali armed groups.”

Hundreds of Kenyan troops moved into southern Somalia last
month after a spate of kidnappings by armed Somalis, though
officials said the military incursion had been planned for months.
Militants now face fighting on two fronts — from Kenyan forces in
the south, and from Ugandan and Burundian troops in the Somali
capital.

Al-Shabab has threatened to launch terrorist attacks in Nairobi in
retaliation for the attacks by Kenyan troops.

Meanwhile, officials on Kenya’s coast indicated that Kenya’s Navy
shot and killed seven men at sea, though three survived the attack.
Relatives said the boat was full of innocent fishermen, though the
military said the boat was full of insurgents.

Kenyan military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said the boat
was told to stop for an identification check “but continued to
approach the Kenyan Navy at high speed.” He said that some of the
militants may have swam to shore and he asked the public to report
anyone seeking medical treatment for bullet wounds.

A local government official, Richard Karani, said he was aware of
the incident. He said three people from the boat had been arrested
and the whereabouts of the other seven were still unknown.

A relative of one of the fishermen on the targeted boat, Said
Abdulrahman, said the boat was attacked despite the fact the
fishermen had alerted authorities of their whereabouts.

Chirchir also said the military believes foreign fighters inside al-
Shabab have regrouped in the towns of Barawe and Marka and will
try to flee to Yemen. He warned merchant ships against transporting
fighters.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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