MOGADISHU (SD) – Somali government has warned that the Kenyan government’s decision to suspend commercial flights to and from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, will risk the recently renewed diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries.

In an interview with state owned media, Somali Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Duran Farah deplored the move, saying there was no direct communication between Mogadishu and Nairobi regarding the latter’s decision to suspend all charter and scheduled flights to and from Somalia.

The Somali minister said the government would take a stand on suspending all commercial flights in Kenya in due course.

Kenya announced the move on Tuesday, but gave no reasons for the move, which comes barely a week after the two countries resumed diplomatic relations.

The Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority stated in a report for pilots on 11 May that all flights between the two countries, with the exception of UN humanitarian missions and aircraft delivering COVID-19 medical equipment, remain suspended.