Uhuru threatens to withdraw KDF from Somalia over EU funding cut

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, Kenyan army soldiers ride on a vehicle at their base in Tabda, inside Somalia. Heavily armed fighters from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab attacked a base for African Union peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, blasting their way into the compound and exchanging fire with peacekeepers, a Somali military official said. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has threatened to withdraw Kenyan troops from Amisom serving in Somalia.

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, Kenyan army soldiers ride on a vehicle at their base in Tabda, inside Somalia. Heavily armed fighters from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab attacked a base for African Union peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, blasting their way into the compound and exchanging fire with peacekeepers, a Somali military official said. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE – In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, Kenyan army soldiers ride on a vehicle at their base in Tabda, inside Somalia. Heavily armed fighters from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab attacked a base for African Union peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, blasting their way into the compound and exchanging fire with peacekeepers, a Somali military official said. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Uhuru told visiting United Nations Security Council envoys on Friday that fund cuts by the donor community to the mission in Somalia have hampered success against al Shabaab.

“Referring to the recent cuts in EU support, he said it was not Kenya’s role to close the funding gap and the logical conclusion would be for Kenya to pull out its troops,” a brief by a UN online bulletin read.

The President’s threat comes as a surprise, given his earlier stand that Kenya will remain in Somalia for as long as it takes.

Opposition leaders have consistently asked the government to withdraw the soldiers, saying it has not helped Kenya’s resolve to defeat al Shabaab.

The close to 4,000 Kenyan soldiers in the war-torn country have suffered heavy casualties, with more than 200 officers killed in El Adde in January.

Source: thestar.co.ke

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