Kenya to reopen border with neighbor after nearly 15 years

The move is expected to restore cross-border movement and trade with Somalia, President William Ruto has said

Kenya has announced plans to reopen its land border with neighboring Somalia, nearly 15 years after it was shut in response to deadly cross-border attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab.

The government originally closed the Mandera Border Post, located in the East African country’s far northeastern region, in 2011 as part of heightened security measures.

The militant group has waged a long-running insurgency against Somalia’s government and has repeatedly targeted Kenya. In 2013, gunmen carried out the Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, killing an estimated 71 people during a four-day siege. Two years later, gunmen stormed Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya, killing 148 people and injuring dozens in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country’s history.

Security incidents tied to Al-Shabaab have continued in recent years. In November 2025, two Kenyan Border Patrol Unit officers were killed when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device planted by the militant group near the Somalia border in Garissa County.

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In a post on X on Thursday, Kenyan President William Ruto said the border will reopen in April to restore connectivity and revive cross-border trade.

“It is unacceptable that fellow Kenyans in Mandera remain cut off from their kin and neighbors in Somalia due to the prolonged closure of the Mandera Border Post,” Ruto wrote.

Ruto said the decision follows extensive security assessments and that a significant deployment of security forces will be in place when the border reopens, to ensure that safety is not compromised.

Kenya and Somalia have periodically discussed reopening the border in recent years. In 2023, the two countries agreed to a phased resumption of operations, but the plans were postponed amid security incidents near the crossing.