Kenya to start talks on KDF exit from Somalia

BY NYAMBEGA GISESA

Kenya is expected in the coming days to start negotiating its troops exit plans from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), The Nation has learnt.

The talks to be led by Ministry of Defence CS Monica Juma are part of the anticipated Amisom withdrawal by 2021, the year in which the peacekeeping and enforcement mission is expected to close down its operations in Somalia

The negotiations aim to end about eight years of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) incursion in Somalia in which the presence of forces potentially reduced possible terrorist attacks as well as exposed Kenyans to varied reasons behind terrorism.

KDF crossed into Somalia on the night of October 16, 2011. The objective of invading Somalia was to destroy and degrade Al-Shabaab, topple its leadership and prevent prospects of terrorist attacks locally.