By Standard Reporter and Agencies
Al Shabaab plans to use civilians as human shields in some of the 10 towns targeted for attack by the Kenya Defence Forces, and many are now living in fear.
The militia is preventing civilians in the towns from leaving and fear has gripped many as they await possible air strikes.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) said on Tuesday it planned "imminent" air raids on militant bases and warned residents to stay clear of them.
"Al Shabaab ordered us to stay and die at the hands of Kenya, to dwell in paradise," Abdikadir Weydow, a resident of the southern Somali town of Afmadow, told Reuters.
Afmadow, a rebel bastion and strategic transit point for contraband smuggled through rebel-controlled Kismayu port, is seen as a likely flashpoint for a confrontation between Kenyan forces and Al Shabaab militants.
Kenyan and Somali Government troops, as well as militia nominally allied to Somali Government, have set up forward positions close to Afmadow.
In numerous other towns, including Baardheere, Baidoa, and Afgoye, many people were preparing to escape, hoping to lie low in the bush or reach the Kenyan frontier.
"We are determined to flee to the jungle. We cannot stay in a town which is to be bombed," said Baardheere resident, Yusuf Guled.
Others too poor to afford transport, or with elderly relatives, were hunkering down, bracing for an aerial assault.
"The roads are muddy and I am with my aged parents who cannot travel. We have to turn a deaf ear to Kenya’s air strike (warning) come what may," said Filsan Osman by telephone from Baidoa, about 270km northwest of Mogadishu.
Military spokesperson Emmanuel Chirchir told Reuters on Tuesday its forces would not target civilians, but warned they needed to stay away from rebel bases to avoid being caught up in the bombardments.
Kismayu resident Hawa Ali Yusuf welcomed Kenya’s incursion to rout the insurgents from southern Somalia, but urged the KDF to refrain from dropping bombs.
Meanwhile Al Shabaab is adopting guerrilla-style and terror tactics against Kenyan soldiers and innocent civilians, even as it continues to receive planeloads of weapons.
Attackers believed to be members of the militant group fired two rocket-propelled grenades into a guesthouse in El Wak, Mandera, on Wednesday damaging the walls of the building.
There were about 10 guests in the rooms at the time of the incident. Internal Security Minister George Saitoti told Parliament on Wednesday no one was injured in the incident.
News of the attack came as a third planeload of weapons landed in Baidoa on Wednesday.
The plane followed another consignment of arms that arrived on Saturday.
"We’ve had a positive confirmation that there was another landing of another aircraft with weapons," Major Chirchir said.
"Our troops will not be cowed at all by this armament. We are prepared and our mission would go ahead as planned," he added, noting: "We have all it takes and what is required in the battlefield, we would hit the targets as planned."
He said that Al Shabaab fighters had attacked a KDF convoy inside southern Somalia late Tuesday, but denied claims the terrorists had caused heavy Kenyan casualties and destroyed military trucks.
"Our troops were headed to Tabto from Liboi and they confronted four armed Al Shabaab militants near the border," Chirchir said.
Insurgents ran
"There was an exchange of fire and the insurgents ran towards a forest, it was dark and our commander on the ground advised against venturing there because it could be a trap."
Police and El Wak locals said the attack on the guesthouse happened at 5am on Wednesday. The police, for further analysis, later collected shells from the grenades to determine the type.
The attackers also shot bullets at the building damaging the windows. Police said they collected spent cartridges of an AK 47 rifle, and a G3 from the scene.
"Fortunately no one was injured in the attack and the attackers whom we believe are remnants of the militant group escaped soon after. They are being pursued," said a senior officer in the area.
One of the grenades hit the walls of the guesthouse while the other one landed on a wall of a neighbouring house.
The attack followed an earlier one by suspected Al Shabaab militants visited on Amuma Police Post in Garissa County, on Monday night.
Police said its Rural Border Patrol Unit based in Lagdera Division, has 15 officers and no one was injured. However, some of the officers were out on patrol during the attack.
Saitoti said the officers who were on duty repulsed the attackers, who used a rocket-propelled anti-tank weapon to blow up officers’ tents.
Police said they had been expecting an attack given the location of the post and were ready to defend themselves.
Four Government officials were last week killed in the area in a similar attack when suspected Al Shabaab militants ambushed them as they transported Kenya Certificate of Education examination papers.
The attackers escaped after throwing a grenade into the officials’ vehicle. Saitoti said the attackers were Al Shabaab followers and they are still pursuing them.
Meanwhile, Eritrea has denied media reports that said it had delivered weapons Al Shabaab rebels.
"The Government states categorically that these accusations are pure fabrications and outright lies as Eritrea has not sent any arms to Somalia," Reuters quoted Eritrea’s Foreign Ministry.
"Tuesday’s baseless accusations are the latest product of a misinformation campaign orchestrated to undermine Eritrea and frustrate its constructive regional and international engagement."
Media reports in Kenya and Somalia claimed Eritrea had sent two aircraft with weapons to help the Al Qaeda-linked rebels.
