Kenyan soldiers who have been war-torn Somalia are set to withdraw from the country in two years time going by timelines given by United Nations Security Council.
KDF occupies sixteen Forward Operating Base (FOB) working under Amisom.
In the new withdrawal plan by 2020, these bases will be taken over by Somalia National Army (SNA) and Jubaland Security Force who are currently being mentored to take over security responsibility of their country.
The FOBs include Amisom Sector II headquarters Dhobley, Afmadhow, Tabda, Fafadun, Hoosingow, Kismayo New Airport, Kismayo Old Airport, Kolbio, Buale, Badhaadhe, Beles Qoqaani and Burgavo among others.
KDF entered Somalia in October 2011 at the height of terrorist attacks in North Eastern and Coastal parts of the country.
So far, Kenya has withdrawn 200 of its soldiers from Somalia. In December this year, 200 more are expected to return home.
The drawdown will also touch other soldiers from other countries and are part of Amisom-Djibouti, Uganda and Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria ahead of 2020 and leave all security operations to the Somali government.
However, the Somali government is apprehensive of resurgence of Al Shabaab with the exit of Amisom from Somalia.
“Our worry is that the UN and other donors are talking about reducing troops. What we want is for our country to be secure and if the Amisom troops leave, the situation might be overturned,” The Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Benadir region Abdirahman Omar Osman stated as quoted by the Standard.