Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Somalia: Elders Denounce Kenyan Fighter Jet Attacks

Guda — Some of Somali prominent elders in Lower jubba region have strongly condemned the latest Kenyan air raids on villages in that province that did not discriminate between civilians and military objectives.

Speaking to Shabelle Media, Abdiqadair Ahmed Mohamed, one of the elders in Lower Jubba region denounced the strongest terms the latest Kenyan aerial strikes, which its warplanes struck intentionally on civilians' locations in Guda village nearby Kismayu town, some 500-km away south Mogadishu, Somali capital.

The elders denied Kenyan claims of killing senior Al-shabab fighters in its latest air strikes in southern Somalia. They said, KDF bombed makeshift huts including a schools and villages dwell in innocent civilians.

"We call on Kenyan government to halt swiftly its air raids on civilian ground targets from low-flying aircraft using machine guns because most of them inflicted heavy civilian casualties," we also urge Nairobi to start a prompt and impartial investigation is needed into what happened in Guda village." said Abdiqadair Ahmed Mohamed, one of the elders in Lower Jubba region.

Guda village in Lower Jubba region is a territory close to Kenya manned by the militant group Al-Shabaab and has witnessed several air strikes since Kenyan incursion into Somalia nearly three months ago to pursue the militants.

This call from Somali elders in southern Somalia comes as Kenya military spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed the air strike but denied any civilian casualties. He also warned civilians to keep away from Al-Shabaab territories.

http://allafrica.com

No comments:

Post a Comment