NAIROBI - Kenya on Saturday ordered the suspension of all flights to and from neighboring Somalia for security reasons, after a US warning that Somali extremists are plotting suicide attacks in the country.Amid deteriorating conditions in the lawless nation where the weak transitional government is girding for war with powerful Islamists, Kenyan authorities ordered a halt to air service beginning Monday. ‘Effective from Monday, all flights to Somalia are suspended until further notice,’ Kenya’s principal immigration officer J.K. Ndathi said in a letter addressed to immigration staff at all of Kenya’s airports.
The order affects scheduled six-days-a-week service from Nairobi to Mogadishu and three other Somali cities offered by two carriers -- Dallo and East Africa Express airlines -- as well as numerous cargo flights.
In addition, it requires charter airlines to get specific exemptions to the ban. ‘All charter flights to Somalia must get clearence one week before the flight, which must be accompanied by the passenger manifest, travel documents and reasons for travel,’ Ndathi said.