This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
On October 8, 2019, tensions between Kenya and Somalia escalated over a long-standing airspace dispute.
The conflict began when Kenya ignored a directive from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requiring all planes heading to Kismayo to be cleared from Mogadishu.
A plane carrying former leaders of Galmudug and South West states, Abdikarim Hussein Guled and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, landed at Kismayo airport on a direct flight from Nairobi, defying the ICAO directive.
The move has sparked concerns that Kenya is violating airspace rules, prompting Somalia to seek international intervention.