At least 11 Kenyans who have been serving in the Somalia National Army (SNA) on Sunday surrendered to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in Hulugho, Garissa County, citing discrimination and harassment by their commanders.

The group was disarmed of eight AK47 assault rifles, a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher and a PKM machine gun which were confiscated by the military officers. The soldiers also surrendered a total of 826 rounds of ammunition.

KDF had initially received information the soldiers from the neighbouring country were headed to Garabey Location in Hulugho.

A multi-agency team led by Major Ali Mohammed of KDF proceeded to the location where they found the soldiers seated and waiting for further instructions.

RPG launcher

One of the defectors, Abdi Dekoo 22 from Kolbio was armed with an AK47 rifle with 30 bullets, while Mohamed Sambul Ali 35 and a resident of Garissa township was armed with a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher and three pieces of warhead.

Other soldiers have been identified as Osman Job Aden 30, Feisal Ali Yusuf 25, Abdulahi Mohammud 60, Idris Ibrahim Ali 52, Dalma Hussein Khalif 26, Abdi Guled Musa 40, Feisal Ibrahim Bakal 21, Bule Aden Doya 60, and Ali Sheikh Abdi 75, from Hulugho and was not armed.

“The reasons for defections were allegedly harassment and discrimination by their bosses from the Somali National Army. All arms have been handed over to the in-charge KDF Hulugho,” police said in a report.

There was no immediate comment from the KDF in Nairobi and SNA over the latest developments.

Sources said the Somali nationals will be taken back to Mogadishu while the Kenyans will be debriefed for further action.

The area where they were escaping from, which is in Jubaland has been experiencing clashes between local soldiers and those from SNA. This is over disputed elections that took place in the federal state.

Regional forces

In mid-December last year, Jubaland regional forces clashed with the SNA soldiers in Raaskamboni and the Jubaland regional government later claimed that they had defeated the SNA troops.

Approximately 240 SNA soldiers, including their top commander, surrendered, while around 300 others fled to Kenya and surrendered their arms to the KDF. The Jubaland troops also took over the camp and set on fire some of the vehicles that were there.

Dozens of SNA soldiers were photographed seeking refuge at a site manned by the Kenyan security agencies at the Ishiakani border town in Kenya amid ongoing armed clashes at the Raskambooni area between federal government troops and Jubaland regional forces.

They were later moved to Mogadishu with their arsenal.

The SNA officially announced its withdrawal from Somalia’s Lower Juba region after the attack. They had earlier also accused Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe of making a backdoor agreement with al Shabaab, which maintains a significant presence within Lower Juba’s countryside, that allows the terrorist group safe passage to attack the SNA.

Tensions between Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Madobe have been rising over recent months, with the disagreement related to the latter’s recent regional election victory.

More security officials were moved to the Kenya-Somalia border to address the crisis building out of the clashes, besides other international interventions to contain terror globally. Between November and December last year, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) arrested at least 17 terror suspects in Kenya during an international counter-terrorism operation in East Africa led to the arrest of a total of 37 suspects and the seizure of both small arms and heavy weapons.