Kenya and Somalia commit to defeat Al-Shabaab militants

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FILE: Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Kenyan leader William Ruto in Nairobi in Sep 2022 for talks on key bilateral issues

NAIROBI, Kenya - The federal government of Somalia and the republic of Kenya have pledged to do more cooperation in the fight against Al-Shabaab, a commitment which comes amid an ongoing crackdown against the militants in their strongholds within Somalia.

Kenya's defense minister Aden Duale says the two nations will invest in trade while pushing to foster peace and security within the Horn of Africa nation. According to Duale, the commitment was made by President William Ruto and his counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the US.

The two are attending a three-day U.S-Africa Summit in Washington DC. Delegates from 49 African countries, as well as the African Union, were invited to the summit in the US capital, a follow-up to the first such gathering eight years ago under President Barack Obama.

According to Duale, Kenya's improved surveillance along the border with Somalia has been successful, adding that there is a need to do more to foster peace and tranquility in the country which has been battling Al-Shabaab militants for over 16 years.

“Under different programs, to different places, and at different times, we have sent out our service troops on peacekeeping missions which have proven successful. One such place that attributes its peace and stability to the Kenyan Defence Force is Somalia,” he said.

The relationship between Kenya and Somalia rocked bottom low a few years ago following the maritime case in the International Court of Justice [ICJ] but since the change of leadership in the two countries, they seem to be speaking from the same script.

Somalia had also accused Kenya of meddling in her affairs, especially in Jubaland state whose leader Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe is a close ally of Kenya Defense Forces [KDF]. Then Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted the political leadership from Somaliland, a breakaway state that Somalia's central government does not recognize.

Somalia expelled Kenya's envoy to Mogadishu and recalled his country's ambassador. Kenya has denied meddling and accused Somalia of using it as a scapegoat to score political points at home. Kenya has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees since the fall of Somalia's dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

In August just before Uhuru Kenyatta retired, Somalia reinstated the Khat imports from Kenya after a two-year ban. The two countries are also jointly fighting Al-Shabaab following the operations by the Kenya Defense Forces in Sectors II and VI of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS].

GAROWE ONLINE

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