The decision to ban direct flights to Kismayo Airport is a strategy to derail Kenya Defense Forces in the ongoing fight against Al-Shabaab militants, it has emerged.
Last week, the federal government of Somalia banned direct flights to Jubaland, a move that will force all Kenyan planes to go through Aden Abdulle Airport before being cleared to fly to Kismayo.
Somalia has been at loggerheads with Kenya following the latter's decision to back Jubbaland President Ahmed Madobe, who won re-election.
A former diplomat says the directive will hamper operations of KDF given than plans carrying military equipments have been landing in Kismayo before.
“It targets Kenya and may well be intended to slow down Kenya’s supplies and logistical support to its Amisom camps in Dhobley and Kismayu,” Idd Bedel Mohammed, a former Somali diplomat, told the Sunday Nation.
“It is targeting Jubaland in the wake of defiance. But it is discriminatory and may backfire if clans feel they are being targeted,” he said, referring to the re-election of Jubaland President Ahmed Islam Mohamed, alias Madobe.
Kenya has been backing Madobe, the commander of Ras Kamboni Brigade, who helped KDF liberate Kismayo. Over the weekend, a Jubbaland minister was arrested in Modadishu.
Last week, Somalia also opposed Kenya's bid to have Al-Shabaab listed as a terrorist organization, a move that further complicates relationship between Nairobi and Mogadishu.
Pressed to explain, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Abubakar Dahir Osman told a radio station that Kenya had sustained Shabaab’s source of revenue by abetting illegal charcoal trade.
“We urge the Kenyan Government to implement Security Council Resolution 751 targeting Al-Shabaab, including the ban on illegal charcoal trade,” he later tweeted.
KDF is scheduled to leave Somalia in 2021, with United Nations expecting that by then, Somali National Army will be in a position to take over.