NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- With defections from al-Shabaab on the rise in Somalia, Kenyan military officials said the Islamic terrorist group is losing its regional clout.
Kenyan forces in October launched military raids on southern Somalia following a string of high-profile kidnappings attributed to al-Shabaab, al-Qaida's affiliate in the region.
The Kenyan military said al-Shabaab is coming unraveled following the military campaign. One of its senior intelligence authorities defected along with more than a dozen others, al-Jazeera reports. The Arab broadcaster cautioned, however, that it was unable to verify Kenya's claims.
Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said in late December that two of its staff members were killed in a shootout at its offices in Mogadishu.
Doctors Without Borders is one of the few aid organizations operating in Somalia. Al-Shabaab, in control of the country's south, banned some humanitarian groups from working in Somalia.
Al-Shabaab commanders said Kenyan airstrikes hit their bases in southern Somalia during the weekend, though it disputed Kenyan statements that 60 of its fighters were killed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Mogadishu for an unannounced visit in early December, a first for a sitting U.N. secretary-general in nearly 20 years.
He said there was political momentum in the country that should be seen as sign of hope for the Somali people.
