Kenyan and Somali troops advanced on an Islamist-held town in southern Somalia on Thursday and African Union peacekeepers moved on one of the last pockets under militant control in the capital Mogadishu. Nairobi launched a cross-border incursion into Somalia to flush out rebels from its porous frontier area after a series of kidnappings of foreigners in Kenya.
The abductions were carried out by gunmen thought to be linked to the al Shabaab rebels, allied to al Qaeda. Officials in Kenya, the region's biggest economy, say the operation into its anarchic neighbour is needed to protect its multi-million dollar tourism industry and reputation as a relatively stable investment destination.
"The military response on al Shabaab will not affect tourism activities in the country owing to a raft of security measures already in place to secure all tourist activities," Kenyan Tourism Minister Najib Balala said in a statement. "Kenya will not be cowed by threats from al Shabaab and will continue to fight in a bid to avert any further threat to the country's stability." But Kenya's troops, backed by Somali government forces, have found it difficult to make much progress through torrential rains and heavy, muddy soil. On Wednesday, a Kenyan military spokesman said the army had secured three towns.