Ethiopian officials indicated that no decision had officially been reached with regard to joining the troop contributing nations. However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti stated that "You can simply guess Ethiopia is going to be part and parcel of this process[...] The decision is not made as to sending the army, but per the IGAD council's resolutions of the past months, all IGAD member countries, the African Union and others also will be summoned, will be called, will be expected to somehow contribute something to strengthening the operations in Somalia." End In March 2012, Colonel Cyrus Oguna, head of the KDF's Information and Operations sector, indicated that Operation Linda Nchi was about to end, as Kenyan troops were set to re-hat under the African Union Mission in Somalia. On 31 May 2012, the BBC reported that Kenyan soldiers, acting as AMISOM's southern contingent, assisted Somali government forces in capturing Afmadow from Al-Shabaab, a southern town considered important in the military campaign owing to its network of roads that grant access to many different parts of the country. Kenyan forces were officially integrated into AMISOM in early June. While Kenyan government officials declared a formal end to the operation in 2012, Kenyan military activities continued in Somalia within the framework of other, continuing operations. Kenyan forces remain in Somalia and are not expected to leave before 2020. Belligerents Kenya According to the Associated Press, Kenya had not "actively engaged" in the conflict in southern Somalia prior to this operation. According to a correspondent with The Independent, Kenya had previously been supporting at least two militias in southern Somalia in a proxy war against Al-Shabaab, but moved instead to a direct presence of Kenyan troops once that strategy had failed. Kenya's military is regarded as inexperienced and reporters voiced doubts that it has the capacity to conduct the required logistical operations. A joint communique issued on 31 October by the Kenyan and Somali governments stated that the Kenyan forces were fully co-operating with Somali forces in a TFG led operation. An African Union initiative called for the Kenyan soldiers to eventually be brought under AMISOM's command. On 12 November, the Kenyan government released a statement announcing that it had approved the re-hatting of its Kenya Defence Forces under AMISOM. Analysts expect the additional AU troop reinforcements to help the Somali authorities gradually expand their territorial control. In February 2012, the International Crisis