The European Union (EU) is sending military support worth about €20million ($21.4 million) to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in a boost against threats such as the Somali militant group Al Shabaab.

It means Nairobi will draw support for the first time directly from the EU Peace Facility, a fund established in 2021 by the European Union bloc to help support security initiatives in allied countries in Africa.

A dispatch from the European Council said the money will support the KDF to protect Kenyan borders and deal with internal and external threats.

“The assistance measure will also contribute to securing border areas and countering increased Al Shabaab’s operations along the border with Somalia.,” the European Council said on Monday.

Drawing from the European Peace Facility means the money will finance equipment purchases and other services such as technical training.

The Kenya army infantry combat units will also receive tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, non-lethal interceptors and jammers, systems to defeat improvised explosive devices, electronic warfare means, cross-country tactical military-type vehicles, and a mobile medical post, a dispatch indicated.

The EU has been one of the backers of the outgoing African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) force which KDF has been a part of for the last decade. But the EU and other donors had lately cut back some budgetary allocations to the mission, citing a multiplicity of security challenges on the continent.