U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday committed the United States to expanded support for Kenya in its fight against terrorism.
Obama was speaking at a joint press conference following talks with his counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
"Part of our announcement today involves additional funding, additional assistance that we are providing the Kenyan security forces to deal with these very specific counter-terrorism threats. As well as additional training and assistance to make sure that the approach that's taken in rooting out potential terrorist threats don't create more problems that they are solving," Obama said.
Since 2011, Kenyan troops have been fighting alongside neighboring Somalia against the al-Shabab extremist group, an affiliate of al-Qaida, and have joined the African Union forces in supporting Somalia's internationally-backed government.
In retaliation, Al-Shabab has since stepped up their operations in Kenya, dealing a blow to plans for the Kenyan troops to serve as a buffer and protect the country's long, porous border.
U.S. drone strikes have been targeting the group for the past few years.
"What we are doing, we need to expand that more because the battle that we are fighting is not a Kenyan war. Kenya just happens to be the frontier of it, being a neighbor to a country that for a long time has not had any kind of formal government," said Kenyatta.
Obama arrived in Kenya on Friday, his first visit as president to his father's country of birth, and the first to the East African nation by a serving U.S. leader.
The president said his visit was also aimed at boosting economic ties between the two countries.
"Now that we've renewed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for another ten years, I discussed with Presidents Kenyatta how we can expand our economic cooperation, and we are especially focused on infrastructure and energy," said Obama.
The two sides have signed key deals on bilateral cooperation in various fields including energy, infrastructure, and agriculture.
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