Influx of Jubaland forces sparks fear in Mandera

Mandera residents hold protest against the presence of Jubaland forces in Mandera town. [Ibrahim Adan, Standard]

Mandera residents have expressed fear over an influx of Somali regional fighters, pushed over the border following clashes with the central government.

The southern Somali state of Jubaland has long clashed with the federal government based in Mogadishu.

Last month, federal forces seized a key town in Jubaland, forcing local fighters to flee across the border into Kenya's northeastern Mandera County.

"There is a lot of fear in the area... Most people have run away," Urgus Shukra, a local elder in Mandera, told AFP by phone.

He said armed Somali forces have been present for four weeks and had occupied "the most important farm area".

"They are always firing their guns. They have even trained there," said Shukra.

Ali Ibrahim Roba, a senator for Mandera, wrote on X: "Jubaland forces are now inside Mandera town. Schools have been shut down, businesses paralyzed, and families displaced in fear of stray bullets, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and unexploded ordnance."

Kenya's interior secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said there was "no cause of alarm" and that such comments were an exaggeration for political gain.

"We cannot confirm now what kind of people they are... if forces or civilians," Murkomen told reporters.

Mandera governor Mohamed Adan Khalif raised the alarm over the presence of Somali fighters last week, saying that it compromised national sovereignty, and locals held a protest over the issue on Tuesday.

Opposition politicians in Kenya have criticised President William Ruto's silence and called for action to expel the forces.

Kenya has troops in Jubaland -- a lush, relatively prosperous part of Somalia -- as a buffer against the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, which has staged several bloody attacks on Kenyan territory.

Jubaland's regional president Ahmed Madobe -- a political ally of Nairobi -- faces opposition from Mogadishu, which has refused to recognise his administration.