Kenyan media reports Ethiopian militia killed three Kenyan officers on Friday.

The incident took place in northern Kenya, Marsabit county, at Anona and parts of Sololo township.

A police official of the county told media that “the Ethiopian soldiers were pursuing militants from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who had killed a local chief in Ethiopia on Thursday”.

The Ethiopian militia have been surveying the localities and detaining suspects when they clashed with a Kenyan police unit patrolling the area.Map - Ethiopia Kenya border Moyale

A senior official of the county said on Sunday, they did not to establish why the Ethiopians crossed into Kenya territory. The official intends to address the matter in a forthcoming joint cross-border security meeting.

Media reports also claimed security have been beefed up in both sides of the border.

OLF is an Ethiopian rebel group that has been fighting for the secession of Oromia region. In the past decade, the group fragmented into several factions, of which three are based in Eritrea. It was not clear which faction was responsible for the incident that prompted the Ethiopians cross the border.

Neither government made statements on the matter so far.

Earlier this year, Kenyan papers, citing officials from Marsabit county, claimed Ethiopian army briefly a police station in the County. However, the Ethiopian Ambassador in Nairobi denied the claims saying, “There is no reason that would make Ethiopian army forces to even think of invading Kenya, it is quiet an illusion”.

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Daniel Berhane

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