9 Kenya Rifles
The 9th Battalion, Kenya Rifles is a light infantry battalion of the Kenya Army headquartered at Moi Barracks near Eldoret. Background The 9th Battalion was formed on 1 September 1979 when its members were pooled from existing Kenya Rifles Battalions. The unit was presented with its Presidential and Regimental colours in 1980 by President Daniel Arap Moi. The battalion is part of the Kenya Army's Western Command and covers the western parts of Kenya from external and internal aggression. The unit's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Opande. Experience The unit took part in Exercise Natural Fire in 2006 with allied countries and has seen extensive action in southern Somalia against Al Shabaab and was among the units that participated in the Battle of Kismayo (2012). The operation codenamed Operation Sledgehammer led to the capture of the city in an amphibious and ground operation. The unit was also involved in the largest ambush in the Kenya Army's history in El ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine infantry. Although disused in modern times, heavy infantry also commonly made up the bulk of many historic armies. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery have traditionally made up the core of the combat arms professions of various armies, with the infantry almost always comprising the largest portion of these forces. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French ''infanterie'', from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' īnfāns'' (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets '' infant''. The individual-soldier term ''infantry ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Light Infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought as Reconnaissance, scouts, Raid (military), raiders, and skirmisher, skirmishers. These are loose formations that fight ahead of the main army to harass, delay, disrupt supply lines, engage the enemy’s own skirmishing forces, and generally "soften up" an enemy before the main battle. Light infantrymen were also often responsible for Screening (tactical), screening the main body of a military formation. Post-World War II, the term "light infantry" evolved to include rapid-deployment units (including commandos and Airborne forces, airborne units) that emphasize speed and mobility over armor and firepower. Some units or battalions that historically held a skirmishing role have kept their designation "light infantry" for the sake of traditi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eldoret
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Eldoret is the fifth most populated urban area in the country after Kenya's 4 cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the airport to more than in nearby areas. The population was 289,380 in the 2009 Census, and it is currently the fastest growing town in Kenya with 475,716 people according to 2019 National Census. Eldoret was on course to be named Kenya's fourth city, but was edged out by Nakuru in 2021. Etymology The name "Eldoret" is based on the Maasai word "eldore" meaning "stony river"; a reference to the bed of the Sosiani River (a tributary of the Nile), that runs through the city. History Eldoret and the plateau around it h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operation Linda Nchi
Operation Linda Nchi ( sw, Linda Nchi; "Protect the Country") had the Kenya Defence Forces enter southern Somalia beginning in 2011. The Kenyan government declared the operation completed in March 2012, but its forces then joined AMISOM in Somalia. Academic observers and the International Crisis Group said the operation was a Kenyan] intervention. Ostensibly the Kenyan government aimed to create a buffer zone between Al-Shabaab and instability in southern Somalia, and the Kenyan homeland. However, at a deeper level, the Kenyans desired "to be seen as a reliable partner in the U.S.-led ‘global war on terrorism’, there were institutional interests within the KDF, and key political elites within the Kenyan government, notably Minister for Internal Security George Saitoti, the Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and several senior security chiefs, advocated for intervention to advance their own economic and political interests." Lead up and planning Kenya's incursion into southern So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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African Union Mission In Somalia
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. It was mandated to support transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the Somali security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. As part of its duties, AMISOM supported the Federal Government of Somalia's forces in their battle against Al-Shabaab militants. AMISOM was created by the African Union's Peace and Security Council on 19 January 2007 with an initial six-month mandate. On 21 February 2007 the United Nations Security Council approved the mission's mandate. Subsequent six-monthly renewals of AMISOM's mandate by the African Union Peace and Security Council have also been authorized by the United Nations Security Council. The duration of AMISOM's mandate had been extended in each period that it has been up for r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Kismayo (2012)
The Battle of Kismayo was an offensive led by the Kenya Defence Forces, under the codename Operation Sledge Hammer, to seize the port city of Kismayo, Somalia, from Al-Shabaab from 28 September 2012. Fighting alongside the Kenya Army were Raskamboni movement militia and the Somali Army. Background In August 2008, Al-Shabaab and Islamic Courts Union fighters captured the southern port city of Kismayo during the first battle of Kismayo. A town with a large ethnic minority constituency Kismayo became the Islamist group's strategic headquarters after Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and allied African Union troops expelled the militants from Mogadishu during the Battle of Mogadishu (2010–2011). Control of the harbor, among other things, allowed the insurgents to import weapons and supplies. In October 2011, the Kenya Defence Forces entered southern Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab, under the codename Operation Linda Nchi. Officially, the offensive was led by Somalis, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of El Adde
The Battle of El Adde took place on 15 January 2016. Al-Shabaab militants launched an attack on a Kenyan-run AMISOM army base in the town of El Adde, Gedo, Somalia. It remains the deadliest attack on the AMISOM Peace Support Mission to Somalia and is the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) largest defeat since independence in 1963. As such, the Kenyan government went to extreme lengths to conceal the extent of its losses. It has been described by the media as a "military massacre" or military disaster. It was also the largest military defeat in Kenyan history. Background In 2011, Kenya joined the African Union Mission to Somalia. In that time, the KDF has occupied the southern Gedo Region of Somalia with a presence of around 3,000 troops. According to Somali army General Abas Ibrahim Gurey, clear and reliable intelligence of an imminent attack had been passed along to the commanding officer in charge of the El Adde base, 45 days in advance. Kenyan army base attack On 15 January, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daniel Arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice president of Kenya from 1967 to 1978 under President Jomo Kenyatta, becoming president following the latter's death. Born into the Tugen sub-group of the Kalenjin people in the Kenyan Rift Valley, Moi studied as a boy at the Africa Inland Mission school before training as a teacher at the Tambach teachers training college, working in that profession until 1955. He then entered politics and was elected a member of the Legislative Council for Rift Valley. As independence approached, Moi joined the Kenyan delegation which travelled to London for the Lancaster House Conferences, where the country's first post-independence constitution was drafted. In 1960 he founded the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) as a rival party to Kenyatta's K ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daniel Opande
Daniel Ishmael Opande (born 18 August 1943) is a retired Kenyan military officer, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Kenyan Army. Education He is a graduate of the British Army's Mons Officer Cadet School, which he joined in 1963. Opande was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on graduating from Mons in May 1964. Opande is also a graduate of the British Army's Staff College, Camberley and the U.S. National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington DC. Career In 1979 he became the first commanding officer of 9 Kenya Rifles, a newly formed infantry battalion. Opande later served as Deputy Force Commander with the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group in Namibia (UNTAG) from 1989 to 1990. Before serving as UNTAG DFC, he had been the Kenyan Army's director of operations. He represented the Kenyan government in the negotiation of the Mozambique peace process from 1990 to 1993. He then was sent to Liberia as the Chief Military Observer of the United Nat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United Nations Institute For Disarmament Research
The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) was established in 1980 by the United Nations General Assembly to inform States and the global community on questions of international security, and to assist with disarmament efforts so as to facilitate progress toward greater security and economic and social development for all. Recognising the need for objective, empirical and comprehensive research on disarmament and security, the General Assembly specified that UNIDIR would be an autonomous entity within the United Nations structure, so that its work could be conducted in scientific independence. Background Through its research projects, publications, small meetings and expert networks, UNIDIR promotes creative thinking and dialogue on the disarmament and security challenges of today and of tomorrow. UNIDIR explores both current and future security issues, examining topics as varied as tactical nuclear weapons, refugee security, computer warfare, regional ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jamhuri Day
Jamhuri Day (Republic Day) is a national holiday in Kenya, celebrated on 12 December each year.Facts and Figures Government of Kenya, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Accessed 1 June 2011) ''Jamhuri'' is the Swahili word for "" and the holiday is meant to officially mark the date when Kenya became a republic on 12 December 1964, one year and six months after gaining internal self-rule on 1 June 1963 () from the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infantry Battalions
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine infantry. Although disused in modern times, heavy infantry also commonly made up the bulk of many historic armies. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery have traditionally made up the core of the combat arms professions of various armies, with the infantry almost always comprising the largest portion of these forces. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French ''infanterie'', from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' īnfāns'' (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets ''infant''. The individual-soldier term ''in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |