Kenya Prepares ‘Major Assault’ on Somalia

Self-Proclaimed Somalia Govt Says Offensive Fine So Long as It Respects 'Sovereignty'

Their confidence apparently bolstered by the Ethiopian invasion over the weekend, Kenya’s military forces in southern Somalia are reportedly planning a “major assault” on a number of al-Shabaab sites.

The Ethiopian raid is being officially denied by the Ethiopian government, but privately they are saying the move is an effort to help Kenya “wipe out” al-Shabaab militants nationwide.

Which of course would require them to actually make serious inroads into Somalia, which so far the invasion force hasn’t done. Instead, Kenya’s troops have mostly fallen into a quagmire in the nation’s far south, with officials conceding that there is no real end-game strategy.

The self-proclaimed Somali government claimed it was fine with the new offensive, so long as the assorted invasion forces respect the nation’s “sovereignty,” by which they of course mean respecting their claim to rule over a country which is almost entirely out of their control.

Kenya has attempted to blame the struggling invasion on Eritrea, which of course has been a regular scapegoat for failed military operations in the nation. Eritrea has taken Kenya to the UN Security Council, demanding an independent investigation of Kenya’s allegations.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.