Kenya beefs up Somali border security

Kenya on Friday deployed extra security on its border with Somalia as fighting between al Shabaab insurgents and government forces raged near its border.

Hundreds of refugees fleeing the fighting crossed into Kenya at Liboi, prompting the government to act to contain the influx.

Tension was high in Liboi on Friday as more than 700 refugees arrived in the Kenyan town fleeing the fighting between al Shabaab and Somalia government soldiers in Dobley.

Dobley is just five kilometres from the Kenyan border, and is a key crossing point for people fleeing to the giant Dadaab refugee camps, some 100 kilometres into eastern Kenya.

Those injured in the fierce fighting were treated at the Liboi dispensary with a possibility the seriously injured could be taken to Nairobi.

Hundreds of security personnel have been deployed to prevent a spillover of the fighting into Kenya.

The police and army have been deployed to Diff near Wajir and Dadacha Bula, Liboi and Kolbio in Garissa county to prevent the militants from fleeing into Kenya.

North Eastern PC Ole Serian said about 40 Somali civilians with gunshot wounds were being treated at a Liboi hospital. He said three of them died while undergoing treatment.

“No Kenyan was hurt as the clashes are inside Somalia. Kenyans should remain calm as we have secured the border,” said Mr Serian.

Area police chief Leo Nyongesa flew to Liboi to supervise security arrangements in the border area.

Mr Serian told the Nation by phone from Garissa there were fears more refugees would flee to Liboi on Saturday.

As the drought ravaging Somalia forces hungry civilians into refugee camps in Kenya, al Shabaab insurgents have been threatening to forcefully take Somalis back to their home.

Friday’s attempt the retake Dobley town is seen as part of the plan to take charge of the region again.

A commander of a military group said al Shabaab’s dawn attack on Dobley was repelled.

However, a senior al Shabaab commander said his fighters had made a tactical withdrawal a short distance outside the town after intense fighting.

“The enemy suffered heavy casualties as planned, and we will return when it is good for us,” said Sheikh Mohamed, claiming that al Shabaab fighters had also seized large stores of weapons from the town.

The region is divided between rival militias, some led by Islamist fighters, some by clan leaders, others proxy forces of foreign powers.

Fighters from the Ras Kamboni militia, an anti-al Shabaab force also active in the area headed by former Islamist leader Ahmed Madobe, are reported to have suffered heavy casualties, including a senior commander.

Al Shabaab fighters last month pulled out of positions in the war-torn capital Mogadishu where they were battling the government, but they still control swathes of south and central Somalia.

The United Nations has declared six regions in south Somalia famine zones.