Al-Shabab fighters attack Kenya military base

Trump orders ‘great rebuilding’ of US military

ISLAMIST militant al-Shabab fighters have launched an attack on a Kenyan military base in southern Somalia. The al-Qaeda-linked group says it has killed more than 50 soldiers and seized military vehicles and weapons.

But a Kenyan military spokesman said the dawn attack was repelled, the base was not overrun and scores of insurgents were killed in the fighting.

A year ago Al-Shabab carried out a similar attack on a Kenyan base in the town el-Ade.

In that raid the Islamist group said it had killed more than 100 soldiers, but the Kenyan government refused to give its casualty figures.

Kenya’s ministry of defence spokesman has not confirmed the deaths of any soldiers in the latest attack.

Lt Col Paul Njuguna, however, did say that soldiers had killed “scores” of Al-Shabab fighters when the attackers tried to enter the camp in Kolbiyow, near the Kenyan border, after setting off a car bomb.

Al-Shabab says it has taken control of the base and surrounding area, according to the AFP news agency.

Kenya contributes more than 3 600 troops to the Africa Union mission helping the UN-backed government tackle Al-Shabab in Somalia.

It appears lessons have not been learnt from the attack on the Kenyan base in el-Ade town last year. Regardless of the death toll this time, Al-Shabab’s audacity to repeat such an assault on a location where the Kenyans should be strongest reveals how much work still needs to be done in counterinsurgency.

The attack will also spur calls in Kenya for a review of its ambitions to stabilise its north-eastern neighbour, where it first sent soldiers in October 2011. BBC WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has signed an order to begin what he called a “great rebuilding” of the US armed services, promising new aircraft, naval ships and more resources for the military.

“Our military strength will be questioned by no one, but neither will our dedication to peace. We do want peace,” Trump said in a ceremony at the Pentagon.

Trump predicted that Congress, which sets the expenditures for the government, will “be very happy to see” the White House’s new spending request for the military.

Trump made it clear during last year’s presidential campaign and in recent weeks that he wants to enlarge the ranks of the military services and expand its fleets of aircraft and ships.

For example, he said he envisioned a naval fleet of 350 vessels, up from the navy’s current 274 and more than its 310 vessel target.

And Trump excluded the military from a hiring freeze across the rest of the government that he ordered just after being inaugurated president on January 20.

He is also expected to order his new defence secretary, James Mattis, to intensify operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria with more US soldiers and military hardware like artillery and attack helicopters.

Another expected move is to review and the strengthen the country’s ability to defend itself against cyber attacks and to conduct offensive cyber attacks itself.

The order Trump signed was less specific, calling for a sweeping 30-day readiness review of the US military, with the aim of preparing new budget requests to improve readiness. News 24