Kenyan Forces Advance on Strategic Somali Rebel Bases

Kenyan troops using aerial cover advanced Tuesday on a strategic rebel-held Somali town, even as Nairobi police stepped up security for fear of reprisal attacks by Islamists.

"Our forces will be concentrating on operations in Afmadow region today, they started moving there late on Monday," said Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.

Kenyan troops have pushed at least 120 kilometers into Somalia to reach Afmadow region since Nairobi declared war on the Shebab militia and confirmed it had sent its army across the border on Sunday.

Guided by pro-government Somali forces, backed by heavy aerial bombardments but bogged down on mud tracks in heavy rain, Kenya has been hitting back against recent kidnappings inside Kenya blamed on the Islamists.

"So far everything is going on well," Chirchir added.

The assault has prompted dire warnings of revenge from the Shebab, who deny being behind recent kidnappings of foreigners from beach resorts and an overcrowded refugee camp.

"Kenya has peace, its cities have tall buildings and business is booming there, while Somalia is in chaos," Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage said on Monday.

"If your government ignores our calls to stop its aggression on Somali soil, we will strike at the heart of your interests," he said, addressing the Kenyan population.

Kenyan police said they have stepped up security and beefed up their intelligence mechanisms, particularly in the capital Nairobi following the Shebab's threats of reprisals.

"I appeal to Nairobians and Kenyans in general to be extra alert, and in case anybody sights any suspicious and strange person or any suspicious object to report to any police officer," Nairobi Provincial Police commander Antony Kibuchi said and circulated hotline numbers to the public.

"We have stepped up security across the city following these threats issued by the Shebab yesterday," he added.

Agence France Presse reporters did not see signs of increased security in Nairobi Tuesday, but did notice a higher-than-usual number of police checkpoints on the road to the eastern Kenyan Dadaab refugee camp, home to some 450,000 Somali refugees.

Kenyan police said that two British nationals were arrested Sunday near the border with Somalia "on suspicion of terrorism activities."

The pair are believed to be from Cardiff, which is home to one of the largest Somali communities in the United Kingdom.

The last time Somalia was invaded by one of its neighbors was in late 2006 when Ethiopia started an occupation that lasted two years and spurred the formation of the al-Qaida-inspired Shebab insurgency.

But Kenya said it was not frightened by the Shebab's grim warning.

"We will not give up at all, we will not be cowed or intimidated by the Shebab," Chirchir said.

Meanwhile in Mogadishu, Somali naval forces seized a boat outside the port late Monday with an armed crew, including some Kenyans and Tanzanians.

"There were seven crew members from African countries, some of them armed with small weapons," Admiral Farah Qare told reporters. "They said they were simple fishermen which we doubt... security forces are still investigating."

It was unclear how long Kenyan troops planned to stay in Somalia but Nairobi had been under growing pressure to take action and attempt to restore confidence that it could safely host tourists and one of the world's largest aid communities.

Critics say Kenya promised increased security measures after the first kidnapping, that of British tourist Judith Tebbutt, but failed to prevent a second abduction of French woman Marie Dedieu in the Lamu archipelago three weeks later.

A third incident, the kidnapping of two Spanish aid workers in Dadaab, long a security worry for Kenya because of chronic overcrowding, happened last Thursday, apparently prompting the incursion over the border.