Kenya has suspended flights to Somalia just days after its neighbour said diplomatic ties between the two countries had been normalised following months of tension.
On Tuesday, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said, without giving a reason, that commercial flights to and from Somalia would be paused for three months.
All flights between Kenya and Somalia are suspended except medevac
[medical evacuation]
flights and United Nations flights on humanitarian missions only,” the regulator said.
KCAA director general Gilbert Kibe told AFP news agency the suspension was “a decision by the government”.
The directive appeared to catch some Somali aviation officials and travel agents by surprise.
“We had not been given a prior notice, and there’s been no explanation about the reason so far,” an airport tower operator in Mogadishu told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The suspension comes a day after Somalia said shipments of khat – a narcotic leaf – from Kenya remained on hold.
