Nairobi: Kenya and Somalia have agreed to reopen their border crossing points after 11 years of closure.
Kithure Kindiki, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, told reporters on Monday that the border crossings in Mandera County will be opened in the next 30 days, Liboi in Garissa County and Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia will be reopened in the next 60 and 90 days respectively.
“We are also in the process of relooking at a possibility of also adding a fourth border point which will give an entry point into Somalia,” Kindiki said after holding bilateral talks with visiting Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali.
Kenya closed its borders to Somalia in 2012 following increased terror attacks from the al-Shabab militant group, Xinhua news agency reported.
Ali said that the two countries have agreed on the re-opening of the common border in order to ease the movement of people and also to enhance trade in goods and services.
He added that the challenges experienced by communities on both sides of the common border are too complex for one country to address.
–IANS
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