GABORONE, Botswana\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Kenya Defence Force (KDF) says it has constructed the\u00a0first 3 kilometers of a security fence along the north-eastern\u00a0border with Somalia, which is aimed at preventing the infiltration of al-Shabab\u00a0militants who have staged several mass-casualty attacks\u00a0inside Kenya in the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, the\u00a0border wall will cover the entire 700-kilometer border with Somalia, which\u00a0runs through the northeastern county of Mandera to the Indian Ocean\u00a0coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initially planned as a concrete barrier fitted with surveillance\u00a0equipment and observation posts in 2015, the project has since been\u00a0changed to a security fence of concrete poles linked through barbed\u00a0wire and secured by electric fence and razor wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tighter security fencing that would include the use of mesh wire is\u00a0planned for nearly 200 kilometers of border sections defined as\u00a0“security-sensitive.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenya embarked on the border wall project to prevent the infiltration\u00a0of members of the Somali-based\u00a0al-Shabab\u00a0militant group, who have\u00a0previously crossed the porous common border into Kenya to stage\u00a0attacks such as bombings, shootings and grenade attacks\u00a0in public places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al-Shabab\u00a0started targeting Kenya for revenge attacks following its\u00a0decision late in 2011 to deploy the KDF as part of the fledgling\u00a0African Union (AU) force which is fighting the group in Somalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to journalists during a recent media tour of the\u00a0newly completed section of the fence, KDF Engineering Department\u00a0commander Major-General Thomas Cheptuko said the Army would seal up 30\u00a0kilometers of the porous land border within the next four months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We will do the first 30 kilometers within the stipulated time since\u00a0people are energized. We are working closely with the Somalia National\u00a0Army (SNA) to ensure that the construction work is done peacefully.\u00a0The only possible challenge could be from Bula Hawa (clan), but SNA\u00a0are working with us to ensure that the project progresses swiftly,”\u00a0Cheptuko said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Bula Hawa are a Somali clan which lives on the border with Kenya.\u00a0It has repeatedly been accused of supporting the\u00a0al-Shabab\u00a0insurgency\u00a0and allowing or helping Kenyan-bound terror units transit\u00a0through its territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite combined Somali-Kenyan efforts to persuade the cross-border\u00a0clan to embrace the border fence, the Bula Hawa remain bitterly\u00a0opposed to the construction of the security fence and have threatened\u00a0to stage disruptive attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandera County Governor Ali Roba said the army would expedite the\u00a0sealing up of the 30-kilometer-long stretch between the Kenyan town of Mandera\u00a0and Bulahawa in Somalia because the majority of militants\u00a0who have staged attacks were found to have entered Kenya through the\u00a0same strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said due to its proximity to the Bula Hawa clan across the border,\u00a0the town of Mandera was more vulnerable to cross-border terror\u00a0attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our request was to re-energize and expedite the work for the first 30\u00a0kilometers in order to secure Mandera (town), and there is hope that\u00a0we will succeed. We are happy with the progress of the public security sensitization program as visible work has been done, unlike in the\u00a0last two months when we visited the site. We want our brothers from\u00a0Somalia to do business with us, but only through the customs border so\u00a0that we can be able to keep out the unwanted elements,” Roba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The KDF took over the implementation of the project three months ago\u00a0following a series of work stoppages blamed on pay disputes between\u00a0the government and members of the National Youth Service (NYS), who\u00a0were initially contracted to do the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somalia initially opposed the border fence and threatened to take\u00a0legal action citing possible infringements on its sovereignty.\u00a0However, Mogadishu has since warmed up to the project and provided\u00a0troops to secure the KDF construction teams against possible terrorist\u00a0attacks from the Somali side of the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Kenya Defence Force says it has constructed the first 3 kilometers of a security fence along the northeastern border with Somalia, which is aimed at preventing the infiltration of al-Shabab militants who have staged several mass-casualty attacks inside Kenya in the past four years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":11,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1981],"class_list":["post-43000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global","category-mideast-africa"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JLBJTA3OP5GD3HTI63OTJ77HN4","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/2016\/12\/15\/kenya-cites-progress-in-building-fence-to-keep-al-shabab-out\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n