London BBC World Service “Focus on Africa” program (in English) — 1709 GMT

There has been a serious clash on the sensitive border between Kenya and southern Somalia. It has been something of a powder keg for several weeks now. Somali Government troops have been active in the region trying to root out Ogadeni rebels of the SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement). It has caused a spate of refugees who have been crossing into northeastern Kenya, with tales of harassment by Somali troops. And now, the Kenyan Government is complaining about an incident on the border involving Somali troops and Kenyan police in which four policemen were killed, and an unknown number of civilians. From Nairobi, Feter Bowers reports:

[Begin Bowers recording]

A statement from the KENYA NEWS AGENCY says that around lunchtime yesterday. six Somali National Army cars and jeeps crossed the border at Labooy and attacked a Kenyan Posts and Telecommunications station. It was during this attack that the four policemen died. The telecommunications station was extensively damaged, a number of Kenyan vehicles were destroyed, and the attackers carried away firearms and ammunition belonging to the station. The Kenyan foreign minister, Mr Robert Ouko, called on the Somali charge d’affaires in Nairobi today and handed him a strong protest note. The foreign minister said the Kenyan Government viewed the incident with the utmost concern, and said it was another act of provocation perpetrated by men of the Somali Armed Forces. The Kenyans have demanded a full explanation from Somalia.

According to reliable sources in the border area, the trouble apparently started when people in the Somali border town of Doble, which for some time has been in the hands of rebels of the Somali Patriotic Movement, received word that Somali Government troops were on their way to attack the town. The Somali forces, thought to have numbered around 300, are said to have been making their way to Doble from the coastal town of Kismaayo. But the government troops, anticipating that many Ogadenis in Doble might try to flee across the border into Kenya, about 15 km away, moved south to the border themselves in order to cut off this possible escape route. It was there that the clash occurred. People in the area say the fighting lasted most of the day and there were also reports of shelling in the area. The border has apparently now been closed and locals on the Kenyan side have today been unable to travel from the provincial capital of Gaarissa to the border town of Labooy.

[End recording]

_{FBIS-AFR-89-183, 22 Sept. 1989, p. 4}