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Kenya boosts security along northern border

Xinhua, January 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya has announced a raft of measures aimed at improving security along its northern border.

In a joint statement issued following a meeting between government and leaders from clash-hit northern Kenya, it was agreed that security forces will intensify patrol of international boundaries with Somalia and Ethiopia to thwart off terror threats.

"We want to bring peace and security in the north-eastern region and the resolutions we have made are the first step. Our next step will be the implementation by my ministry," Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said late Wednesday.

Among the measures to be implemented are eradication of small arms and light weapons, management of boundaries manned by the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) and increasing the number of police stations in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties.

During the meeting, the leaders agreed to inform the people to immediately seize establishment of new settlement schemes and if necessary, it must be done in a planned manner and after consultation and coordination between the county leaders and national government.

"We also want to check on movement of goods at the borders and curb corruption to also ensure that we facilitate tax collections, " Nkaissery said.

Clanism was singled out as one of the causes of insecurity in the region and Nkaissery urged local leaders to start peace campaigns in the region and promised the negative perception of Kenyan Somalis would also be addressed.

Several people have been killed, hundred maimed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes following tribal clashes in northern Kenya in the recent past.

Drought-hit northern and eastern Kenya has seen a surge in inter-communal clashes and cattle rustling in the recent past, with the raids leading to an increasing number of deaths and a rise in economic losses.

Apart from various attacks, other incidents that have been reported are barricading of roads, which have affected transport services along various roads in northern Kenya. Endi