Kenya cautions Somalia's army against provoking KDF troops in Gedo region

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] troops will be forced to retaliate should their Somalia counterparts provoke them, a senior administrator said, Monday, in reference to the recent border clashes near Mandera.

For the second time in as many months, elites troops from the Somali National Army [SNA] engaged in running battles with Jubaland regional forces, with the gunfight spilling over to Kenya in Mandera a fortnight ago, officials said.

A similar fight ensued in February at Balad-Hawo town just across the border, forcing hundreds of civilians from either side of the border to flee for their safety. Mandera Governor Ali Roba asked Kenya to "act swiftly" and "protect" our people from foreigners.

But Nairobi seems to have been provoked by the latest fierce gunfight along the border between the two Somalia rival forces, in which elite troops from SNA unleashed a Rocket Propelled Grenade [RPG] across the border, although nobody was injured.

Northeastern regional coordinator Nicodemus Ndalana insisted that Kenya will not tolerate "Somalia aggression" towards a "sovereign" state, adding that Somalia must "either" respect good ties with Kenya or face consequences.

The RPG was unleashed against the KDF troops who were on routine patrols along the porous border. It's not clear if the SNA troops targeted KDF or the Jubaland forces during the attack.

“They [KDF] were targeted with RPG’s from the other side of Somalia and I would like to say that what they did is unacceptable,” said Ndalana, who is the official representative of President Uhuru Kenyatta in northeastern.

“We will not accept [to have] our people to be targeted while they are taking part in their duty of protecting our country,” he added in reference to KDF troops, who are yet to respond to their SNA counterparts.

The regional boss warned that Kenya will be forced to retaliate in case of another such attack in the future. However, he did not reveal whether Kenya has raised a formal complaint to Somalia as per diplomatic dictates.

“If they are provoked again even they (KDF) will be forced to fight back since we also have the same rockets that they [Somali National Army] have,” he warned, in the latest twist of events which could shape the Jubaland row.

Although it's not clear who between the Jubaland forces and SNA opened fire first, it's however certain that the former were escorting Abdirashid Janaan, the regional security minister, who had been at loggerheads with FGS. He's said to have visited the Gedo region while traveling to Kismayo.

Gedo region has been a battlefield for unending squabbles between FGS and Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe. While federal President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has refused to recognize last August's polls, Madobe maintains that he won fairly.

But Farmajo's aggression could dwindle given last week's historical agreement between Madobe and his three competitors, which was penned down in Nairobi. The former Ras Kamboni Brigade commander had accused FGS of "illegal setting parallel administration" in the Gedo region.

In February, both countries raised concerns about the fragile Gedo region. While Somalia accused Kenya of "interfering" with its internal affairs, Kenya fired back, warning Mogadishu against "provoking our troops". The matter was temporarily quelled following Uhuru-Farmajo's phone call.

Although Kenya has dispatched peacekeeping mission troops in Somalia, it works closely with Jubaland forces in the fight against Al-Shabaab. In return, Somalia troops work with ENDF, further causing anxiety among AMISOM troops.

The US and other international partners expressed concerns about the deployment of SNA troops in Gedo, terming the move "unnecessary". The action, they argued, could pave room for Al-Shabaab resurgence in Somalia.

Even more worrying, a special report by Kenya's intelligence team implicated Somalia's spy agency NISA of working with Al-Shabaab by sharing intelligence briefs on KDF movement and sponsoring attacks, a claim which FGS has since dismissed as "false and misleading".

Jubaland is used by Kenya as a buffer zone in the war against Al-Shabaab. The close relationship, which seems to have sabotaged Farmajo's internal plans, informs the fragile relationship between Nairobi and Mogadishu.

GAROWE ONLINE