Somali, Kenyan Troops Exchange Gunfire In Border Firefight

Somali and Kenyan troops engaged in a minutes-long firefight on Saturday at the two countries' shared border, local officials and witnesses said after the Kenyan side fired shots to deter Somali demonstrators from approaching

Mogadishu, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2020 ) :Somali and Kenyan troops engaged in a minutes-long firefight on Saturday at the two countries' shared border, local officials and witnesses said after the Kenyan side fired shots to deter Somali demonstrators from approaching.

The incident took place at the frontier between the Somali town Bulo Hawo and Kenya's Mandera, close to where the border meets Ethiopia to the north.

Multiple sources told AFP the exchange was triggered when a group of Somali demonstrators angry at the alleged killing of three civilians approached border posts manned by Kenyan soldiers.

"Kenyan troops opened fire on Somali protesters who closed (in) on their positions along the Bulo Hawo boarder and the Somali troops stationed close to the area responded with heavy fire, this continued for several minutes," Bulo Hawo police officer Mohamed Abdirahman told AFP by phone.