UN report links Kenyan military to attacks on Somalia’s largest telecommunications provider
November 15, 2019, 9:15 AM
1 min read
A United Nations report says it has corroborated evidence of five attacks allegedly carried out by Kenya’s military on communication masts belonging to neighboring Somalia’s largest telecom provider.
The U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Somalia says one attack killed two civilians in 2018.
The report says Kenya’s military denied involvement in the attacks. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Hormuud Telecom Somalia says the attacks violate international law. The company asserts that its communications masts have been attacked 10 times by Kenya’s military over the past two years.
The report says destroying telecommunication masts may prevent al-Shabab extremists from triggering explosives using mobile telephone signals.
Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight al-Shabab, which also carries out attacks inside Kenya.