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SOMALIA: Armed group flees to Kenya

    NAIROBI

    Fighting broke out this week around the southern Somali coastal town of Ras Kamboni, forcing an armed group to flee to Kenya on Friday, media sources told IRIN.

    The fighting erupted in connection with the murder of a US aid worker in the area last month. The sources cited US officials as saying the clashes - between the fundamentalist Islamic Al-Ittihad organisation and a local Ogadeni sub-clan - followed attempts by local elders to hold Al-Ittihad accountable for the killing.

    An unknown number of armed Al-Ittihad members were forced to flee into Kenya on Friday, crossing at the border town of Kolpio.

    A senior Al-Ittihad representative from Mogadishu has reportedly been sent to the Gedo region to mediate.

    Deena Umbarger, a consultant for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), was shot and killed on 20 March as she was taking tea with town elders. Witnesses told US officials that members of Al-Ittihad were responsible for the killing.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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