Kenya on alert as fighting nears border

Kenyan soldiers and helicopters bolstered defences at the Somali border yesterday to stop fighting from spilling over after Ethiopian warplanes attacked fleeing Islamists on the other side of the frontier.

A local police commander said a Kenyan helicopter had escaped undamaged after being shot at by Somali militia and an Ethiopian missile targeting Islamists strayed into Kenya late on Tuesday.

The Islamists, who deserted their last stronghold on Monday after two weeks of war against government troops backed by Ethiopian armour, have pledged to fight on after melting into the hills between the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu and Kenya.

The Somali interim government is seeking to install itself in the capital, breaking out from the provincial outpost of Baidoa, which had been threatened when the Islamists took over much of southern Somalia in June.

Residents of Liboi, a Kenyan border post, said they saw Ethiopian war planes flying over the Somali town of Doble, 25 km away, late on Tuesday. They then heard shooting which tailed off after midnight.

"When we heard the gunshots we panicked, although we knew it could be these groups fighting across the border," said Liboi businessman Abdi Rage.

"The security forces are many here and it is like we are also involved in this fight. Vehicles are moving up and down the border. This is causing tension but at least we feel secure."

Local police commander Johnstone Limo said the Ethiopian planes were pursuing Islamists nearby.

"Ethiopian planes fired missiles targeting three Somali vehicles. These were allegedly used by the fleeing Islamic forces, and the Ethiopian pilots missed their targets," he said.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju denied the report.

Nairobi sealed the border after the Somali government urged it to stop leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) or foreign jihadist supporters escaping.

Eight suspected combatants were being questioned after they were arrested trying to enter Kenya near Liboi on Sunday.

One border security source said personnel were under strict orders not to let any Somalis into Kenya, while the UN refugee agency UNHCR said 400 Somali asylum seekers had been sent back.

"Most of those in Liboi are women and children and they should not be sent back to a very uncertain situation," said UNHCR head Antonio Guterres.

An ambush that killed at least one Ethiopian soldier in south Somalia on Tuesday showed that fighting may go on, despite the lightning military offensive by Ethiopian tanks, troops and jets that routed the Islamists from Mogadishu then Kismayu.

Kenya's Tuju, who said he was not aware of the UNHCR statement, called for regional states to help the Somali government stabilise the country and to help with donor funding.

"It is now incumbent upon all of us in the region to help the people of Somalia overcome all possible resistance to... their government and other democratic institutions to enable them to realise their aspirations for durable peace," he said.

Kenya was due to host a meeting of the US-backed International Contact Group on Somalia on Friday, two days after European officials met in Brussels to push for peace talks.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says his forces will stay in Somalia for a few more weeks. Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said they may stay months.

Both have called for foreign peacekeepers to be sent without delay. Uganda has provisionally offered a battalion and President Yoweri Museveni was due to meet Meles today.

Kampala has said it will only deploy when its mission and exit strategy are clearly defined. Nigeria may also help.