MOMBASA/MOGADISHU – Multiple media sources in Kenya are reporting that the government has closed a border with neighbouring Somalia indefinitely with cross border trade banned in the process.
The specific border point is the Lamu County area, one of four border crossings between the two neighbours.
They are also joined by Mandera, Wajir and Garissa Counties.
The border closure is the latest leg of a diplomatic rift over a maritime demarcation that is currently before the International Court of Justice, ICJ, in The Hague.
Kenya has in the past few months taken steps against Somalia in what analysts say is a move to pressure Mogadishu over the affair.
Somali government officials were weeks ago denied entry into Kenya. They were detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, JKIA, and subsequently sent back to Mogadishu.
In other manoeuvres, Kenya imposed a double security check for travellers from Mogadishu who first had to be cleared at Wajir County before flying to say Nairobi.
The Somali federal government has in response to the deportation of its officials called on Kenya to commit to a peaceful resolution of differences rather than use of such tactics.
