Starting October 2011, Saitoti worked closely with national Minister of Defence Mohamed Yusuf Haji to see through Linda Nchi, a coordinated operation in southern Somalia between the Somali military and the Kenyan military against the Al-Shabaab group of insurgents. The mission was officially led by the Somali army, with the Kenyan forces providing a support role. In early June 2012, Haji signed another agreement re-hatting Kenya's deployed military forces in Somalia under the AMISOM general command.