The KDF on Wednesday, January 22, categorically denied claims by American media that their soldiers hid in the grass during the Al-Shabaab attack on Manda Bay military base on January 5.
The New York Times had published an article claiming that Kenyan forces assigned to defend the base ran and hid in bushes as well as on the grass during the attack.
“The performance of the Kenyan security forces during and after the battle frustrated American officials,” the Times says in a story compiled by four of its journalists.
However, Kenya's Military Spokesperson Colonel Paul Njuguna rubbished the claims when he spoke to the Daily Nation, further revealed that investigations regarding the attack were yet to be concluded.
“It is strange where the news report is coming from and why at this time when we are waiting for the investigations to be concluded. We can only have a correct and factual account of the happenings once the report is finalized," the Colonel.
The American newspaper had also claimed that Kenyans stationed at Manda Bay may have provided information that aided the outlawed militants as they carried out their attack.
Five Shabaab members were killed in the attack along with three Americans.
An anonymous source at Kenya's DoD further fueled the blame game by stating that the Americans did not respond swiftly following the early morning attack.
“The Americans' response after the attack was not swift. It is Kenyans soldiers who were the first responders to the attack during which they managed to fell five of the Al-Shabaab attackers,” he told the Daily Nation.
A joint Board of Inquiry was formed days after the attack after US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter and the Kenya Navy Commander Major General Levi Mghalu visited the scene of the attack.
The report of the inquiry by the special board is yet to be published.