The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Ethiopia and Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) have announced the launching of a joint operation aiming at flushing out hideouts of militants active along their common border.
It comes eight months after a Kenyan delegation, led by intelligence chief Gen. Nuredin Mohammed Haji, held talks in Addis Ababa with the head of Ethiopia’s NISS Redwan Hussien.
They emerged from the talks with a commitment to strengthen coordinated security operations aimed at preventing the threat from terrorist groups in the region, especially the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and al-Shabaab.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NISS said the operation against the OLA, an armed group fighting the government of Ethiopia, aims to implement security agreements focused on combating threats to the national interests of both nations.
Specifically, it targets activities related to terrorism, contraband trade, and the illegal trafficking of people and arms, the statement said.
The primary objective is to dismantle the OLA also known as the Shene militant group operating in border areas, thereby enhancing regional stability.
Kenya’s NIS in a statement said it has launched a security operation to clear hiding nests, allegedly used by the OLA militants in Marsabit and Isiolo counties.
NIS said the operations targets criminals conducting illegal operations that threaten national security including “arms, drug and human trafficking, illegal mining,” and “instigating tribal conflicts and kidnapping for ransom” along the border of the two nations.
Joint security forces from Ethiopia and Kenya are actively conducting operations in designated camps of the group within their respective border territories to neutralise the group’s influence.
NISS accuses the OLA of establishing ties with al-Shabaab militants and involving in “contraband trade, arms trafficking, and illegal mining.”
