NAIROBI (Diirad ) - Uganda and Burundi have reiterated their full support to Kenya’s ongoing military crackdown against Somalia militia group, Al-Shabaab blamed for a series of abductions in the east African nation.

A statement from President Mwai Kibaki’s office issued in Nairobi on Friday said Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni and his Burundi counterpart, Pierre Nkurunziza separately reaffirmed their backing of the war against the Al-Qaeda allied terror group when they received special messages from Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki.

Museveni who received a special message from his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, emphasized that his government backed Nairobi’s right to self defence, territorial integrity and security of its people.

"On behalf of the government and the people of Uganda and on my own behalf, I wish to express our solidarity with the government and the people of Kenya in the war against Al-Shabaab," Museveni said after receiving the special messages from Kibaki delivered to the two presidents by Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula and Defence Minister Yussuf Haji.

The statement said the Ugandan leader recalled that the Al- Shabaab terror group last year bombed Uganda causing the death of over 70 Ugandans, and stressed that the war against Al-Shabaab is not Kenya’s alone but the whole region is involved.

President Museveni said the region was pooling its resources to wipe out the operations of the Al-Shabaab which portend great threat to peace, security and development.

According to the statement, Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza said his government appreciated Kenya’s role in regional peace and fully supports the ongoing operation against the Al-Shabaab.

Nkurunziza added that the government of Burundi viewed any threat to Kenya’s security as its own threat and will do whatever is required to eliminate it.