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Africa Horn
France to support Kenya's incursion into Somalia
2011-11-05
France will give logistical support to Kenyan forces pursuing Islamist militants across the border in Somalia, a French military spokesman says.
The French do seem to have grown a pair in the war on terrorism, haven't they...
Col Thierry Burkhard said French planes would transport military equipment to Kenyan soldiers near the Somali border. But he denied Kenyan military claims that a French warship had shelled a Somali town on Saturday.

Meanwhile, some Somalis have protested against their president for opposing the incursion which began last week. The several hundred protesters waved Kenyan flags and burnt pictures of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the Reuters news agency reports.

The demonstrations took place in the border town of Dhobley and two other locations that Kenyan troops have passed through, Tabto and Qooqaani. In Dhobley, protesters rolled their eyes and made faces chanted "Down with Sheikh Sharif" and accused him of failing to understand the suffering caused by the militant Islamist group, al-Shabab.

Col Burkhard said the French operation was "limited in scope", the AP news agency reports. It would see French planes helping the Kenyan army to transport military equipment from the capital, Nairobi, to an airport close to the Somali border, he said.

On Sunday, Kenyan army spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir told the news agency that the French navy had bombed the town of Kuda along the Somali coast. Col Burkhard denied the claim, saying France had no warships in the area.
And try proving otherwise...
Posted by:Steve White

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