6th June, 2017
Kenyan Security Officers escaped unhurt on Tuesday after their vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the northeast border town of Wajir.
Regional government official Mohamed Saleh confirmed the incident, saying that one of the vehicles which lead the convoy comprised of Kenyan soldiers and the police was hit by the roadside bomb planted by Al-Shabaab militants.
Saleh said the joint security forces were carrying out operation to flush out Al-Shabaab militants who had been spotted in the area but incidentally ran over an IED which was planted on the road.
“None was hurt. Al-Shabaab insurgents were spotted in Gerille area and in the hunt there was a blast that missed the officers.
“The convoy had six vehicles, four belonging to the KDF and the others to the national police,’’ Saleh said.
The incident is the latest in a series that have been happened in the last few weeks, targeting government vehicles.
Police have blamed the attacks on Al-Shabaab militants who are operating in the area.
At least 20 police officers were killed in May along the Kenya Somalia border town of Mandera and Garissa after their vehicles ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
The National Intelligence Service has warned that the militants have dispatched fighters in parts of northeast region and Coast regions to carry out sting attacks targeting security agents and civilians.
Since Kenya sent troops across the border into Somalia in October 2011, northern and parts of eastern Kenya have been hit by a series of blasts, of which many had targeted local security forces and humanitarian workers.
Several attacks believed to have been carried out by Al-Shabaab have occurred in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa and Dadaab districts of northern Kenya even as the military reports gains against the Islamist group by capturing their military bases and killing scores of them.