African leaders pay tribute to Kenyan soldiers slain in Somalia

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya,  Muhammadu Buhari  of Nigeria and Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud of Somalia have paid tribute to Kenyan Defence soldiers who died over a week ago in Somalia.

The three heads of state laid wreaths at a fallen hero’s monument at the Eldoret Barracks in the West of country before attending an interdenominational service. Hundreds of Kenyans soldiers, some of them survivors of the ill-fated attack and their families attended the interreligious service.

The service came a day after Kenyan troops in Somalia moved their bases near the Kenyan border.  An unknown number of Kenyan soldiers assigned to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) were killed when al Shabab militants over ran their camp in El Adde, south of the country over a week ago.

According to Kenyatta, "When the enemy attacked, they fought with great bravery, to defend their camp, to protect each other, and to defeat the enemy in a foreign land that threatens us here at home. Regrettably, some of them paid the ultimate price.  It is heart breaking. As a parent, and as their Commander-in-Chief, my heart goes out to them, and to their families and loved ones."

Al Shabab militants detonated a suicide car bomb in El Adde and then engaged Kenyan soldiers in a gun fight that lasted several hours. Kenya has declined to release the number of those killed until all remains have been identified and the relatives of the fallen soldiers informed.  Both AMISOM and Kenya have vowed to continue fighting the al Qaeda linked militant group until Somalia is liberated.

The African Union (AU) has at least 22 000 troops in Somalia battling the militants. This is the third attack on an AU base in less than a year, the militants attacked Ugandan and Burundian troops last year killing more than 100 soldiers drawn from both countries.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is on his first state visit to Kenya.