Find lasting peace in Kenya-Ethiopia border flash point

NAIROBI: Friday’s attack on Kenyan security officers in their own territory by soldiers, reportedly from Ethiopia, is the latest violent threat to peaceful co-existence between the two countries. By the time troops from the Kenya Defence Forces were deployed to the North Eastern border town of Sololo, three local police officers had been killed. Reports indicate that the foreign soldiers, in full military attire, raided the border town inside Kenyan territory and terrorised villagers, abducting 24 of them. By yesterday, there had been no formal government assurance on how security would be restored in this volatile area, to back the vague, largely reactionary, statements by junior police officers in the area.
The silence from DoD and senior government officials following this attack is too loud to be ignored. It is regrettable that neither the head of the military nor Boinett have pronounced themselves on this matter, at a time when Sololo residents need assurances of their safety.

It is of greater concern that this attack was carried a week after the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett had raised the threat level following a terrorist attack in Paris on November 13. Under these circumstances, what should we make of Boinett’s assurances on national security and especially at such a time as this when the country is preparing to host Pope Francis.
The circumstances of Friday’s attack are still being pieced together but it has emerged that at dawn, foreign soldiers from Ethiopia, in full military attire, invaded villages in Sololo District where locals led by area MP Roba Duba said at least 24 Kenyans were abducted. This followed a fierce gun battle earlier in the day between Kenyan police and Ethiopian forces at Anona and parts of Sololo township inside Kenyan territory.