NAIROBI — Some community elders in northeastern Kenya are calling for the country’s border with Somalia to be closed again, just weeks after it reopened, following a series of attacks blamed on al-Shabab militants.
Kenya reopened the border last month, but the move has been followed by escalating violence in the border region. Al-Shabab fighters killed five Kenyan security personnel in an ambush reported by Al Jazeera on July 29, and a Special Operations Group patrol came under fire near Wantey Dam, roughly six kilometers from Lafey police station, in a separate incident in late July.
The Lafey corridor has been identified as one of the main routes militants use to infiltrate Kenya from Somalia, with the country recording 61 terror-related incidents across northeastern counties between September 2024 and August 2025, according to regional security reporting cited by the Horn Review.
Amid the violence, community leaders have also pursued reconciliation efforts. Cross-border peace caravans bringing together elders, religious leaders, youth representatives and administrators from both sides have been organized to foster security cooperation between Kenya and Somalia, according to Dawan Africa.
The dispute over whether to keep the border open reflects a broader, unresolved debate among Kenyan officials and communities about how to balance trade and cross-border ties with Somalia against ongoing security risks.
