The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has sent a team of military specialists to South Africa for engagements aimed at strengthening the two countries' capacity to respond to chemical, biological, nuclear, and explosive threats.
The Kenyan delegation held discussions with South Africa's 7 Medical Battalion Group in Centurion, where specialists from the South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) shared their expertise in handling hazardous materials and responding to emergencies.
The team comprised members of Kenya's Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Explosive Doctrine Development Committee, which is responsible for developing military procedures for responding to threats involving dangerous substances and materials, according to Business Insider Africa.
The engagement comes less than a week after eight people, including five road construction workers, two police reservists and a driver, were killed in an ambush by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Hagarsu, along the Mandera-Arabia-Lafey Road in Mandera County, near the Somalia border.
Meanwhile, the engagement followed a September training exercise in South Africa where military representatives from several African countries received training on responding to chemical incidents under a capacity-building programme linked to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
South Africa's 7 Medical Battalion Group specialises in military medical and emergency response operations, with its personnel trained to identify hazardous substances, establish the nature of threats and decontaminate areas exposed to dangerous materials.
