Kenya Finds No End to Fighting Against Somali Militants

When Kenya sent troops to Somalia in October 2011 to fight al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabaab militants, it vowed to pull them out by Christmas. More than 20 months on, there’s no sign they’ll leave soon.

Kenya’s 700-kilometer (435-mile) eastern border is full of menace: from the south near the Somali port of Kismayo that’s in striking distance of its white-sand beaches, to the arid northeast, which has been hit by bombings, kidnappings and clan violence over politics, land and water. Zaddock Syong’oh, a Kenyan Foreign Ministry policy adviser, says Kenya won’t leave until Somalia is stable.