BORDER RUMBLES

In the northeast of Kenya today, Kenyan security forces clashed with Somali al Shabaab rebels -- a timely reminder of how vulnerable this country is to being caught up in its neighbour's chaos. Al Shabaab rebels have been flitting across the border for some time -- this, in itself, is not new, or particularly surprising. But the gun battle today is a reminder of the desire of some of al Shabaab's fighters to expand their activities beyond Somalia, or at least to fire warning shots across the bows of nearby countries. After today's incident, both sides are said to be sending reinforcements to the area, northeast of Garissa,  although it must be said that this kind of incident has happened before and it has not escalated into major conflict.
A clan elder in the Somali town of Dhobley told Reuters that two dead al Shabaab fighters were brought there and buried on Tuesday.
"Here in Dhobley, al Shabaab are calling people to jihad against Kenya and deploying more militias to the border. Local people fear more fighting between the two sides," said elder Yusuf Ali Mohamed.
The provincial commissioner of Kenya's North Eastern province said last month that security services here were ready to tackle any threat to Kenya from al Shabaab. But, as Ugandans learnt, it's hard to tackle a threat which is posed by organised, trained fighters, determined to wreak havoc and ready to die in the attempt. And that's even if your security services are the best, the most transparent and the least corrupt. As this story from the Daily Nation showed today, this is not necessarily the case in Kenya. The newspaper
says that its reporters found that contraband, weapons and illegal immigrants were being smuggled into Kenya with the help of corrupt police officers and border and customs officials. The mayor of Garissa, Mohammed Gabow blamed security agencies and said, fatalistically: "We all know what is happening but there is nothing we can do." More worryingly perhaps, North Eastern police boss (the paper does not give his exact title) Abdul Maka Mzee admitted that corruption was rife and that his officers had not succeeded in stamping it out. He pointed out that the entry points were also staffed by immigration and customs agents. Whoever is to blame, and you can probably bet there is a little bit of everyone in there, it's not a great situation on a long border with an anarchic country where Islamist rebels have said they want to attack Kenya.
In another development, a top U.S. general said today that the U.S military was preparing to step up assistance to the African Union troops (mostly Ugandans and Burundians) holding a very thin line in Mogadishu. Gen. William Ward, head of the U.S. Africa Command, said this could include additional equipment, training, logistical support and information-sharing. We know that Obama is not that squeamish about getting involved in Somalia -- well, at least from the air. Remember the U.S. commando raid that took out Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan last September? Nabhan was one of Africa's most wanted al Qaeda suspects and he was believed to have built the truck bomb that killed 15 at an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa in 2002. If, as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wants, the African Union troops take the fight to al Shabaab, they will need all the help they can get.