Kenyan recruits have fled Somalia following sustained US airstrikes against al Shabaab terrorists, military sources confirmed on Friday.
The recruits have been accused of spying for the US Central Intelligence Agency and others targeting the militants’ camps in Somalia.
Joseph Kanyiri, director of the Boni Enclave Campaign, said some of those running away are part of the Jaysh Ayman elite squad, made up of many Kenyans.
Kanyiri noted a multi-agency team has scaled up security along the border with Somalia to deal with armed fighters.
On Tuesday, more than 100 militants were killed on a camp 125 miles northwest of Mogadishu.
“We are aware the condition in Somalia is not conducive for them and that they have decided to flee to the country. We urge them to surrender to authorities,” he told The Star on Friday.
Somalia’s government said on Wednesday it had requested the airstrike which killed suspected militants to help pave the way for an upcoming ground offensive against al Shabaab.
“Those militants were preparing explosives and attacks. Operations against al Shabaab have been stepped up,” Abdirahman Omar Oman, the Somali minister, told Reuters.
“We have asked the US to help us from the air to make our readied ground offensive more successful.”