Somalia on edge as France pledges help to Kenyan incursion

France has said it will transport supplies to Kenyan troops fighting the Islamist al-Shabaab militia in Somalia, while denying its aircraft conducted a strike mission over the country this weekend.

The announcement of the formal French assistance, made in Paris by a military spokesman, marks a significant step-up of international involvement in the fight against al-Shabaab, a group which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and which controls much of southern Somalia.

The group has been rocked by an offensive by African Union forces that reclaimed control of parts of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in recent weeks and by Kenya’s military intervention, which began in mid-October after Somali gunmen kidnapped four European women – including Briton Judith Tebbutt – in Kenya.

In Somalia, residents in a southern town reported that military aircraft had flown overhead and dropped ordinance on Sunday.

“Two planes flew over the town, then bangs and explosions began,” said Ali Abdullahi, a resident in Kudha. “I don’t know any causalities yet, but we are terrified.”

Ahmednor Addow, another resident, said he believed the bombs were targeting an al-Shabaab base.

“We heard more than 10 bangs and explosions. They were very heavy bombings,” Salah Ali, another resident said. “The whole area was sealed off by al-Shabaab fighters who ordered people to stay away.”

A Kenyan military spokesman on Sunday said that France’s navy bombed a town in Somalia near an al-Shabaab stronghold but the French Embassy yesterday denied it, saying that no French warships are in the vicinity. The French military spokesman in Paris, Colonel Thierry Burkhard, also said no French warship had shelled Somalia.

However, Col Burkhard said French transport planes will fly supplies from Nairobi to an airport in northern Kenya beginning today, and that the operation would be “limited in scope.”

Al-Shabaab has threatened to launch suicide bombings inside Kenya in retaliation, and a grenade attack that wounded a dozen people at a working-class Nairobi pub early yesterday heightened those fears.

Police commissioner Mathew Iteere said the grenade exploded at 1:15am local time while 20 people were inside the bar. Three people were seriously wounded, he said. The blast overturned chairs and tables, and blood stained the floor. Iteere said police did not yet have any suspects.

“It is too early at this point in time to give a conclusive answer” as to who was responsible he said, adding: “The person who lobbed the grenade into the pub was not seen by anybody.”

Somalia’s president has said the Kenyan military incursion into Somali territory is “inappropriate and unacceptable.”

The remarks yesterday by president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed cast doubt on how closely the two governments have been co-ordinating their operations. Al-Shabaab is also under attack from the forces of the UN-backed Somali government and its African Union supporters in Mogadishu.

But Mr Ahmed said Kenyan troops are not welcome in Somalia and people will not accept them. It is unclear what Kenya’s final strategy is in Somalia.

Kenya said a string of kidnappings and attacks on Kenyan soil over the past two months prompted its decision to send troops to Somalia, where Ugandan and Burundian troops are already present with the AU force. But analysts say the Kenyan plan predates the kidnappings, pointing out that Kenya has been pushing for the creation of a buffer state along its shared border with Somalia for more than two years.

During that time, the Kenyan military recruited and trained a pro-government militia nicknamed the “Jubaland” force. Last week they said they plan to push on to al-Shabaab’s main base in the port city of Kismayo and will stay in southern Somalia until al-Shabaab is defeated.

Analysts have long said that the Somali government, which currently only controls the capital, is wary of any potential rivals for its international patronage.