Nairobi May 15, 2013 (SD) – Kenya has announced that it will open the border it shares with Somalia, which has been in shutdown for over 12 years.

Kenya’s Interior Minister, Kithure Kindiki, held a meeting in Nairobi with his Somali counterpart, Mohamed Sheikh Doodishe, to discuss plans for removing a blockade at the border between the two countries.

The meeting was also attended by Kenya’s Defense Minister, Adan Barre Duale, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Alfred Mutua, and Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya.

The meeting follows an the inauguration of the border project between Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia last week in the city of Mandhera.

Officials from all three countries discussed ways to address the overall security threat, border management, economic ties, and trade facilitation.

Kindiki said that the meeting with the Somali officials would also examine measures to ensure that border security is not compromised once the border is re-opened.

Several towns, including Belad Hawo, Mandera, Liboi, Garissa, and Kiunga-Daresalam in Lamu County, were closed down in 2011 following a spate of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants.