Somali soldiers carry an injured man from the scene of a suicide attack in Mogadishu Oct. 4, 2011.
While Kenya says it is merely pursuing al-Shabab activists in Somalia, Somalis don't trust Kenya's territorial incursions. Reuters

Kenyan officials visited Somalia today to attempt to calm fears after last week's incursion into Somalian territory, The New York Times reported.

Last weekend, the Kenyan government sent troops over the border to fight militant Islamist group al-Shabab. The Times reported, though, that the Kenyan government apparently didn't keep the interim Somali government in the loop as they planned the operation.

It was embarrassing, and undermined our credibility, one Somali official said of the situation to the Times. The Kenyans didn't tell us much.

The Times also reported that some citizens in Somalia do not trust the Kenyan government's promises.

If the Kenyans want to protect their people against the Shabab, they should protect their borders inside Kenya, not inside Somalia, Mohamed Hassan, a land surveyor in Mogadishu, told the Times Tuesday. Our country is not a no-man's land. Kenya is invading us to occupy these regions.

Voice of America reported that the Kenyans were calling the incursion a pursuit operation, and that al-Shabab has been connected to al-Qaida.

The New York Times New York Kenya Kenya