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Tension Builds Up At Border

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
July 15, 2004
Posted to the web July 15, 2004

By Evelyn Kwamboka
Nairobi
Kenyan security personnel have been deployed in Turkana District following the
amassing of troops by the Ethiopian government along the border between the two
countries.
The situation in the area remained calm as people continued fleeing for fear of
an outbreak of combat in the area.
Heavily armed troops from Ethiopia arrived in 33 trucks and took positions in
dug up trenches within cataracts along the shores of Lake Turkana that mark the
common border.
Troops who arrived at the border on Monday at around 5pm, to back up those on
the ground, are said to have stationed their armour facing the Kenyan
direction.
However, an official at the Ethiopian embassy in Kenya, Mr G-Hiwot Feleke, said
his government had not deployed any military officers along the border.
Kenya Army officers arrived in Turkana after police in Turkana's Todonyang area
called for reinforcements. A military surveillance chopper popularly known as
the YY, has been patrolling the border since Tuesday morning.
The Kenyan soldiers are reported to be in their barracks and would only be
released if the Ethiopian troops encroach on Kenyan territory.
Department of Defence spokesman Bogita Bwongeri said the military was not in a
position to comment on the issue and referred the East African Standard to the
Eastern provincial administration.
Police spokesman Jasper Ombati said officers from the regular police and
General Service Unit (GSU) were still on the ground.
"Our officers are still on the ground monitoring the situation with a hope that
things go back to normal," he said.
A contingent of Kenya police officers were deployed in the area on Friday after
Merrile militiamen from Ethiopia killed three GSU officers who were on patrol
along the shores of Lake Turkana.
The bodies of two officers were found naked after a search in the area.
Ombati said the Kenyan officers on the ground had not recovered the two
uniforms and rifles by yesterday afternoon.
On Monday, police detonated a landmine allegedly planted by militias from the
Ethiopia Oromo Liberation Front in Moyale's Sololo area, few days after another
one exploded, killing a camel.
The camel was being driven from Sololo to Moyale when it stepped on the
landmine along the Moyale/Marsabit road on Wednesday.

   

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