Tension is high in northern Kenya as a group of Ethiopian militiamen attempted to attack a remote village near the common border late Wednesday, wounding a Kenyan soldier during a fierce exchange of fire.

Police spokesman Gideon Kibunja said Thursday the gun battle took place when a joint team of Kenyan security forces encountered the militiamen that had crossed the border from southern Ethiopia.

"The security forces briefly engaged the militias, who immediately retreated to the Ethiopian territory," said Kibunja in a police statement.

The fighting broke out at Somare area, three kilometers from Moyale town after a combined force of Kenyan security forces sealed off the Kenya-Ethiopia border to try to intercept the Ethiopian security personnel numbering over 60 who had crossed into Kenya to attack a remote village.

"The Ethiopians were in pursuit of suspected Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels who had crossed the border to evade capture by Ethiopian security sources," it added.

Kibunja said a Kenyan soldier sustained a slight injury during the incident, adding that the security forces remain deployed in Somare and Atesa areas to prevent further incursions.

The attack has heightened tension along the two countries' frontier prompting Kenya to deploy additional security forces to patrol the common border that has been destabilized by decades of tribal fighting often sparked by cross-border cattle-rustling.

Cattle rustling are common in Kenya's poor and arid east and north where the mainly pastoral clans fight often for water and pasture.

The attacks come only weeks after a peace meeting was held in Ethiopia aimed at resolving conflicts along the borders of Kenya and Ethiopia.

Source: Xinhua