By KEVIN J. KELLEYMore by this AuthorSuccesses and failures in Kenya's eight-year-long military campaign against al-Shabaab are examined in a recently published history of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). DEFEATRelated Stories Fallout looms over KDF troop pulloutBut Kenyan troops have also experienced two devastating defeats in Somalia. Prof Williams' book leads readers to the conclusion that Amisom, even in conjunction with US airpower and a still-ineffective Somali national army, cannot defeat al-Shabaab. Prof Williams cites unpublished findings of a 2016 Ipsos poll suggesting that Kenya's and Ethiopia's Amisom detachments are widely seen by Somalis as constituting armies of occupation. Only 10 percent of respondents in this survey agreed that Kenyan troops are in Somalia in order to benefit the Somali people.

Source: Daily Nation May 02, 2019 12:22 UTC