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Kenya's leader rules out approving US drone strikes

B2c0ab08 50e1 450d 84de C534e74e0ab1 President Uhuru Kenyatta (R) is on a visit to France (Reuters)

Fri, 2 Oct 2020 Source: bbc.com

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has told France 24 that he would not approve US drone strikes on al-Shabab militants on Kenyan soil.

The president, who is on a state visit to France, said he had not yet received such a request.

The New York Times had last month quoted unnamed US government sources as saying that the US military was seeking approval to carry out drone strikes against al-Shabab targets in eastern Kenya.

The report came days before a military court in Somalia sentenced an Islamist militant to life in prison for his role in a deadly attack on a US base in Kenya.

It was the first attack by al-Shabab militants on US forces in Kenya.

Kenya has troops in the 20,000-strong Africa Union force battling the militants in Somalia.

The US often carries out air strikes in Somalia to target al-Shabab militants.

Source: bbc.com