DJIBOUTI (Somaliguardian) – Djibouti has sent a fact-finding mission to the border between Somalia and Kenya, where tensions continue to grow over alleged Kenyan military support for rebel militias and Somali army’s deployment of fresh troops to the frontier area.
The government of Djibouti’s President Ismael Omar Gele had been assigned to mediate talks over ending heightening dispute between Kenya and Somalia during an extraordinary summit of the leaders of the East African bloc, IGAD.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirisak said IGAD leaders pressured his government to end dispute and deescalate tensions with Kenya.
Mohamed Abdirisak told press in Mogadishu last week that the government of Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo set a condition for bringing an end to a row with Kenya that IGAD leaders look into Somalia’s complaints.
Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Yusuf told reporters on Friday that a fact-finding mission had been sent to the Somalia and Kenya border towns of Balad-hawo and Mandera to establish facts relevant to accusations traded by both sides and assess the situation on the ground.
The delegation including military officials and diplomats will collect information about aggressive military maneuvers and will look into allegations about Somali militias mobilized and armed by Kenyan military inside the town of Mandera.
Somalia had severed diplomatic relations with Kenya earlier this month over alleged political interference and summoned back staff at its embassy in Nairobi while ordering Kenyan diplomats in Mogadishu to return to their country.
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