Somalia’s Fresh Accusations on KDF Escalate Tension

The neighbouring country stated that the airstrikes were carried out on June 3 in El-Adde and Hisa-u-gur regions. 

“KDF’s attack is the most recent example of the Kenyan army operations resulting in the death and maiming of civilians, including women and children, that are increasingly becoming an unpleasant hallmark of the Kenyan Air Force’s standard operating procedure,†Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement dated June 4. 

Its accusations, however, were not substantiated as Somalia did not provide evidence with regard to the airstrikes.

KDF is reported to have a large number of troops in the said areas which border Kenya. 

Somalia further accused Kenya of hiding under the pretence of fighting the Al Shabaab extremists in the region. 

It cautioned Kenya that it will present its case at the African Union over Kenya’s alleged violation of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) guidelines. KDF has over 3,400 troops serving under AMISOM in Somalia. Kenya has not responded to the latest allegations. 

In 2016, KDF lost over 200 soldiers in El-Adde in an attack carried by 300 Al-Shabaab militants. A militia who took part in the attack surrendered to police officers in Mandera soldiers in September 2020. 

The fresh allegations by KDF come on the backdrop of the Kenya-Somalia Indian Ocean border row. The two countries are fighting for a rich oil coast in the ocean. 

Tensions between the neighbours were reduced when Somalia President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo announced the end of the country’s diplomatic dispute with Kenya on May 6. 

A statement from the Somalia government detailed that Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Farmajo agreed to set aside their dispute after intervention from the Amir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

However, five days later on May 11, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) suspended all flights between Kenya and Somalia with immediate effect but did not explain the reasons that necessitated the ban. Only medevac flights and United Nations flights on humanitarian missions were exempted from the order.

President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and Dr Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, who is the Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar at State House on Thursday, May 6, 2020.

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