https://en.sputniknews.africa/20230516/kenya-somalia-agree-to-border-reopening-after-12-years-of-closure-due-to-terrorist-threat--1059283252.html
Kenya, Somalia Agree to Border Reopening After 12 Years of Closure Due to Terrorist Threat
Kenya, Somalia Agree to Border Reopening After 12 Years of Closure Due to Terrorist Threat
Sputnik Africa
The frontier between the countries had been officially closed by Kenya in October 2011 because of attacks on Kenyan soil by the radical Islamist Somali group al-Shabaab
2023-05-16T09:50+0200
2023-05-16T09:50+0200
2023-08-03T10:48+0200
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Kenya and Somalia have agreed to reopen their common border, which has been closed for more than a decade, Kenya's Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said.The announcement came after a high-level ministerial meeting between Kenya and Somalia aiming to promote peace and stability in the region and bolster cross-border cooperation.The Mandera-Bulahawa border post "must be opened within the next 30 days," he detailed, followed by the Liboi-Harhar border post "60 days from today," and then the Kiunga-Ras Kamboni border post on July 1.In a joint statement, the Kenyan and Somali cabinet ministers said discussions were focused on the need for cross-border information sharing between the two countries and a comprehensive response, which would be facilitated by strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officers serving at the borders.They also discussed plans to establish a modern and secure border infrastructure to enhance and ease trade, mobility and movement.On Thursday last week, Kenya's government also launched a new project to re-open its border with Ethiopia, which also suffered attacks by militants in June last year, when fighters attacked two villages near the border.Kenya first sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to combat jihadists and is now a major contributor of troops to an African Union military operation against the group.Somalia has regularly accused Kenya of interference, while the latter has accused Mogadishu of looking for a scapegoat for its internal problems. Somalia had severed diplomatic relations with Kenya in December 2020, but eventually restored them in August 2021, when the Somali government launched an all-out war against al-Shabaab.* Terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20230514/somali-security-forces-eliminate-44-al-shabaab-terrorists-during-a-security-operation-1059250010.html
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kenya somalia agree to reopen border, kenya-somalia relations, kenya and somalia agreement, east africa policy
kenya somalia agree to reopen border, kenya-somalia relations, kenya and somalia agreement, east africa policy
Kenya, Somalia Agree to Border Reopening After 12 Years of Closure Due to Terrorist Threat
09:50 16.05.2023 (Updated: 10:48 03.08.2023) The frontier between the countries had been officially closed by Kenya in October 2011 because of attacks on Kenyan soil by the radical Islamist Somali group al-Shabaab*, which has been waging an insurgency against the central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.
Kenya and Somalia have agreed to reopen their common border, which has been closed for more than a decade, Kenya's Interior Minister
Kithure Kindiki said.
The announcement came after a high-level ministerial meeting between Kenya and Somalia aiming to promote peace and stability in the region and bolster cross-border cooperation.
"The Governments of Kenya and Somalia have resolved to re-open the border between them in a phased-out manner within the next 90 days," the minister said on Twitter.
The Mandera-Bulahawa border post "must be opened within the next 30 days," he detailed, followed by the Liboi-Harhar border post "60 days from today," and then the Kiunga-Ras Kamboni border post on July 1.
"Border communities in both countries have so much in common. There is a need to strengthen cross-border communication," Kindiki added at the press conference following the meeting.
In a joint statement, the Kenyan and Somali cabinet ministers said
discussions were focused on the need for cross-border information sharing between the two countries and a comprehensive response, which would be facilitated by strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officers serving at the borders.
They also discussed plans to establish a modern and secure border infrastructure to enhance and ease trade, mobility and movement.
On Thursday last week, Kenya's government
also launched a new project to re-open its border with Ethiopia, which also suffered attacks by militants in June last year, when fighters attacked two villages near the border.
Kenya first sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to combat jihadists and is now a major contributor of troops to an African Union military operation against the group.
Somalia has regularly accused Kenya of interference, while the latter has accused Mogadishu of looking for a scapegoat for its internal problems. Somalia had severed diplomatic relations with Kenya in December 2020, but eventually restored them in August 2021, when the Somali government launched an all-out war against al-Shabaab.
* Terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries
