Kenyan troops leaving the UN Mission in South Sudan have begun arriving home on Wednesday following a presidential withdrawal order, according to Kenyan media.
President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered them to withdraw in response to the sacking of the Kenyan commander of the UNMISS force.
“Today we have started our withdrawal from South Sudan,” Major General Benjamin Biwott told reporters at Nairobi’s international airport as about 100 soldiers flew in.
Reuters reported that more batches of soldiers from the roughly 1,000-strong Kenyan contingent would arrive in coming days, although Kenya has not given a precise timetable for completing the withdrawal from UNMISS.
Kenyan troops constitute about 8% of the overall mission troop strength.
Photo: Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers disembark from a plane at the JKIA in Nairobi Kenya, November 9, 2016. (Reuters)