Kenyan airstrikes kill at least a dozen Somalis near border

Dec 21, 2011, 19:49 GMT

Mogadishu/Johannesburg - Kenyan airstrikes in southern Somalia killed at least 12 people, witnesses and the military said Wednesday, in an area controlled by Islamist militia al-Shabaab.

Kenya's military said it carried out two air raids at Hosungow village near the border, killing an al-Shabaab commander along with eighteen members of the group.

However, reports quoted witnesses as saying a dozen civilians were among the causalities in the strikes, which took place on Tuesday afternoon.

The military, which launched an incursion into the country in October, plans to intensify air attacks in south-central Somalia, according to spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir.

'Grenade attacks in Dadaab camp was planned from this particular camp,' Chirchir said on his Twitter account, explaining the air strikes.

Recent attacks in the refugee camp in Kenya, inhabited largely by Somalis who fled 20 years of civil war and a drought, killed and injured several people, including policemen.

Al-Shabaab, which has links to al-Qaeda, controls large parts of southern Somalia. Kenya blames the group for carrying out a spate of kidnappings on its territory, but the Islamists deny the charges.

The rebel group is also under some pressure after losing its bases in Mogadishu, which has a weak central government backed by nearly 10,000 African Union peacekeepers.

The United Nations is meanwhile sponsoring talks in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of central Somalia, in an effort to bridge the gaps between the various authorities who control different areas.

There is also infighting within the fragile coalition of interests that make up the Federal Transitional Government (TFG) in Mogadishu, in a country that has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Last week, tensions flared between Puntland and another semi-state Galmudug, with leaders threatening a war.

The TFG is meant to end its mandate by August 2012, after writing a constitution and holding elections. Analysts say differences between the parties will make the timeline difficult to uphold.

Read more about Kenya