Confidential reports seen by Garowe Online that show a link between National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and Al-Shabaab could strain relations between Somalia and Kenya further.
The reports indicate that a top NISA official wrote a cheque for $1.5 million to Al-Shabaab. As per the reports, the money was to finance Al-Shabaab’s activities in Kenya, which has suffered plenty of attacks from the Al-Qaeda linked group in the last 10 years.
Somalia and Kenya have not enjoyed cordial relations for years. In the last year, Somalia accused Kenya of meddling in its affairs, an accusation that Nairobi rejected strongly. Accusations and counter-accusations have arisen since then.
However, all that seemed to be changing when the leaders of the two countries, especially President Mohamed Farmaajo and President Uhuru Kenyatta, spoke on phone earlier this year and vowed to resolve their differences.
Nevertheless, any thawing of relations between the two Horn of Africa neighbors now seems to be under threat. If the confidential report is accurate, then Kenya is unlikely to take kindly to the fact that NISA has provided Al-Shabaab with money and intelligence data to attack it.