A KDF soldier in action.PHOTO | COURTESY 
By CRIME REPORTER
newsdesk@reporter.co.ke
Images relayed by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) drones revealed how Al-Shabaab was planning to attack an African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM ) camp, a commander in charge of the targeted Kulbiyow camp has said.
Drones are unmanned aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or programmed to fly over certain areas.
They are mainly used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes, taking photographs and transmitting the images to a command centre. Some drones can also be used to bomb targets on the ground.
Major Denis Girenge said that a day early he received a call from a colleague commanding another KDF camp who informed him that he had noticed some strange movements 12 km away.

Commander of the KDF camp Denis Girenge. PHOTO | COURTESY | NATION MEDIA GROUP
“We concluded that they were planning to attack either my camp or Hulugho because from that point, we were 14km away while Hulugho was 18 kilometres away,” Girenge told the Daily Nation in an exclusive interview.
To be sure, he dispatched drones that relayed footage of the al-Shabaa grouping and planning to attack one of the two camps.
At 3 am the following day, the drones showed movements of a heavy vehicle.When the movement stopped, he called the surveillance team. The airborne draws further showed a group in a bush receiving a briefing.
“At around 3.30am I saw a sizable group in a bush, about 80 guys and it’s like they were receiving a briefing. We got the grid and laid our weapons including mortars and hit the place,” he added.

Advancing Al Shabaab militants during one their deadly attacks. PHOTO | COURTESY

The attack triggered them and they started running towards the camp. The number increased as they approached, meaning more were hiding in bushes nearby.
“We kept on hitting but the group kept on increasing and we established that many other people had crept in, in groups during the day and were hiding in the bushes,” Girenge said further.
Girenge sustained bullet wounds as he was shot three times. He is admitted at the Defence Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi. He denies that the camp was overran and says more than 200 militants were downed.
He sent a platoon at night and at 5 KM and they spotted the enemy approaching.
The commander says they kept hitting the militants whose number had now reached over 1000 as they approached the camp with highly sophisticated weapons.
KDF soldiers repulsed them with blow after another as they launched explosives towards the camp.