"Our troops are going to war," Kenya's largest daily paper shouted in response to a government decision to take action against the radical Islamic al-Shabab group in neighboring Somalia.

The move was triggered by a spate of abductions in recent weeks. In two separate incidents, a British woman and a French woman were seized from a holiday resorts near the Somali border. Then last week two Spanish aid workers were kidnapped from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, which now accommodates almost half a million Somalis.

The Kenyan government holds al-Shabab rebels accountable for the disappearance of the four women, and Minister for Internal Security George Saitoti says the acts are proof that his country is under threat from a "most serious level of terrorism."

Scant details

The government was not willing to give any details on the scale of the operation in Somalia, but simply said the troops would push 100 kilometers (62 miles) into the neighboring country in order to move al-Shabab rebels out of the region.

Residents of two border towns in Somalia reported having seen trucks carrying soldiers pass through, and helicopters flying overhead.

Saitoti said it was crucial to take action and vowed to pursue al-Shabab fighters "wherever they will be."

"These measures will involve invoking Article 51 of the United Nations charter that pronounces self-defense as an inherent right and which is also in keeping with the current Kenyan constitution," the minister said.

Legal violation

But Somalia's envoy to the United Nations, Omar Jamal, said that in moving into his country, Kenyan armed forces were violating its sovereignty.

"There is a very serious concern from the Kenyan government that there have been some kidnappings by a tourist into their country, but at the same time I think that to take the very unilateral action of going into Somali territory is a breach of international law," Jamal said.

Al-Shabab sources have responded to the military advance with threats of reprisals on Kenyan soil.

"The Kenyan forces have crossed about 100 kilometers deep into Somalia, and in some cases their military aircraft have bombed inside Somalia," al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said at a press conference. "If they continue this way they will regret and feel the consequences back home."

He told Kenyans to call on their government to stand down, insisting that if Nairobi continued its campaign, al-Shabab would "strike at the heart" of the nation's interests.

Author: Antje Diekahns / tkw
Editor: Rob Mudge