Mandera leaders alarmed as police, military disarm another explosive

Mandera leaders alarmed as police, military disarm another explosive

Mandera, Kenya: Mandera County leaders have expressed concern over the escalating insecurity in the region shortly after authorities disarmed an explosive that had been planted on a busy county road.

On Saturday, Senator Billow Kerrow (Mandera) took issue with the repeated attempts on the life of Governor Ali Roba, noting that barely 48 hours after a bomb exploded on his convoy, a bomb was discovered on his route from office to the house.

"We have severally raised concern over the growing insecurity in Mandera town, arising from terrorist attacks and little has been done by the security agencies to contain the situation," said Kerrow.

He said the public stumbled on the explosive and reported the matter to the police.

Kerrow said the explosive device was "right in the middle of the town, and it would have had a devastating effect if it exploded."

"The army was called in and they detonated the massive bomb, which was wired to telephones that would have been used to trigger it off," the senator said.

The senator regretted that in the past year alone, there have been over a dozen attacks on government installations, vehicles and personalities with several fatalities yet no conclusive probe has been done.

"There have been no conclusive investigations that resulted in the arrest or conviction of the culprits. It has become difficult for residents and public servants in the area to go about their work without fear of an attack," he lamented.

He cautioned, "It is imperative that the government takes this situation seriously as it is likely to take more lives and create a crisis in the area."

In a statement to newsrooms, Kerrow faulted the security agencies over the security situation, and challenged the government to dispatch a team of senior security officers to compliment the local team in addressing this problem.

"Mandera is part of this republic and deserves the same level of attention as do other parts of this country. The road into and out of the town has also been under attack several times," he said.

On Tuesday, the governor survived the bomb attack narrowly, which resulted in serious injuries to one of his aids.

Mandera is on the border with Somalia, literary sharing streets with Belet Hawa across the border, in a region largely controlled by al shabaab.