The current Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has been a force to reckon with since its establishment and composition laid was out under Article 241 of the 2010 Constitution.
KDF has a Special Forces Unit that is renown for its covert missions and rescue manoeuvres that is barely known to the public.
The Special Forces Unit consists of troops that are highly skilled with agility, precision and might. The conventional functions and special operations differ in degree of employment to other friendly forces.
They are also independent of other forces meaning they operate on their own without outside help from other units.
Soldiers in the troops receive advanced briefings to enable them to carry out their missions but they never divulge the intricate details of their operations.
The unit conducts hostage rescue missions, anti-terrorism, raids, interdiction missions, surveillance and intelligent collection.
The commandos enjoy better remuneration and respect from peers because of their missions which are not for the faint-hearted.
They are reportedly also the best-equipped unit in Africa with special A4 rifles specially designed for close quarters combat.
Nearly all are trained overseas with soldiers being picked from the Kenya Army, Kenya Airforce and the Kenya Navy. The recruitment is voluntary with KDF picking Kenyans with a C+ mean grade in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The Special Forces were the first to set foot in Kismayu, Somalia, an operation that was carried out in the dark of night in October 2011.
The takeover was to fight against the Al-Shabaab after a series of kidnappings of tourists along the Kenya-Somali border.
A month later they joined the African Union Mission in Somalia. The troops were later integrated into the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in February 2012.
Below is a video of one of their training sessions:
