So when thugs attack a police station the solution is to close it down so as not to put officers in dangerous situations? I thought the solution would be to deploy more troops and equipment to beef up security and decimate the enemy.

Troop surge? Like what Americans did in Fallujah? Because of some rag tag boys in the scanty bushes of Somalia? This obsession with things American is your undoing! Expand the Forces Memorial Hospital first.

Thats the point. KDF were not equipped to be in a place as dangerous as El Adde nor did they have good enough leaders. They had no business being there. It was like going to a gunfight armed with a knife.

What is more troubling for me after watching the video is the huge stockpile of weapons that Harakat Al Shaabab Al Mujahideen made away with!!! And the video narrator made a promise of more attcks, we just don't know when and where. Is somehing being done to recover the Ghanima?

@gregory? funny, but you don't sound Xstian to me at all. Isorait though.

I estimate at most only 1-2 vehicles are still out there with the al shaitans if at all; the response by KDF to el adde was overwhelming with the air force and special forces rigorously pursuing the booty/ the al shaitan infantry, them keeping in mind the APCs that had taken from Burundians/Ugandans at Janale was one of the ones used as a SVBIED, and they knew if they let the KDF ones disappear then that would be a SVIED to visit them later on.

But el adde was mbaya, frankly we were not even caught with our pants down but the pants totally out. Note the brave KDF soldier who mowed down the al shaitans with his PC was not even in his battle gear...no one will ever tell you the casualties - itakusaidiaje?

BTW note the vid is edited and you will not see any al shaitan casualties (at least 3 lorry loads of dead al shatains were removed from the theatre).

Some suggestions:

1) Quicken the pace of kdf modernization and give entire kdf modern equipment - esp counter-
insurgency ndeges can u imagine we couldnt respond with ndeges immediately coz of anti-
aircraft flak. They would have made a difference, but by denying us the airspace, Al shaitans
had more time to do their killings and loot. And while at it, plse retire the F-5, its too old -
for Christ's sake, Uhuru's dad bought them in 1978 when UK was still a teenager!
Ah, plse don't even show us on this on Madaraka day in 1.5 months time. Please.
2) KDF should also totally cut-off funding for al shaitan and sever their arms supply routes (good
that the western navies have seized boats with al shaitan arms) - I know UN doesnt refund us
Navy chums since rehatting to UNISOM but heck its our guys in harm's way so secure them,
3) enhance cooperation with other gavas in som theatre- ethiopian and updf (none responded to the
attack)
4) change their approach, not staying in bases then going out for patrol
5) go fully digital - use surveillance and armed drones. These are not as expe as new jet fighters
and we can get from China and Israel. Si our own generals actually went to China in 2012 to
check them out, kwani what were their findings? We can get our boots off and limit our
participation to targeted/ surgical strikes using UAVs, and occasional commando raids,
6) KDF budget is one of the largest in the region yet we have old equipment and antique jet-
fighters and transport planes and still our active personnel are low- is it only me or does
someone also feel something doesn't add about where the mullah goes? Plus remembering we kenyans
have a terrible appetite for public funds. Requires parliamentary oversight to ensure monies
goes where intended.
For folks who procure faulty or bad equipment to enrich themselves they should be tried for
treason as they are putting our troops in harm's way. Hakuna mchezo.
7) Thoroughly investigate the attack and adopt preventive practices, both immediate, short term and
long term. If we had done same for westgate, garissa, baragoi, lamu,etc we would have saved
many a lives thereafter - we didn't learn from them and in teh same way we didnt learn from al
shaitan attacks n somalia on Ug, Burundi and Ethiopians armies yet they all followed a similar
pattern. Learn the way the Colombians did in 1998, when FARC guerrillas overran an Army
battalion and Police unit, killing 150 personnel and capturing more than 40 soldiers. It is a
global best practice to do a post-mortem, diagnose, establish and implement recommendations.

8) most importantly, explore other polito-social solutions to the Somali mission - there's
a growing perception of a mission creep

IMHO, True amabassadors of Kenya over time have been our sports teams (athletes, Kenya Sevens and our volleyball girls) and KDF.

My 2 cents.

After the attack on our camp, the al shaitans passed near the ethiopian camp and were not confronted. Discuss (10 marks).