NAIROBI: At least six police officers were Tuesday killed and three injured while two were missing when an Administration Police lorry ran over an Improvised Explosive Device in Mangai area, Lamu County.
The lorry was carrying at least 15 officers from the Rapid Deployment Unit when it stepped on the IED. Officials said they were looking for the missing officers and those injured had life threatening injuries.
The area is regarded dangerous as it has many Al-Shabaab militants roaming there in the nearby Lamu forest. Police headquarters was mum on the issue when reached for comments.
“Six officers were killed when their vehicle stepped on an IED near Milimani area. Three others were wounded and efforts to trace others who are missing are on,” said a senior officer in the area who asked not to be named.
Witnesses said the lorry was targeted at a bushy area where the explosive had been planted on the road.
It was the latest attack targeting police officers in the area in a series that have happened and blamed on Al-Shabaab. More than 50 police officers have been killed since 2011 in separate terror related attacks linked to Al-Shabaab militants.
The incident came days after locals had complained Al-Shabaab militants had been spotted in Ishakani area, few kilometers away from the Kenya-Somalia border.
It also came more than a week after the militants attacked a Kenya Defence Forces camp in El-Adde and killed more than 100 soldiers and stole their wares.
Kenya is still mourning the death of the soldiers and the death of the police officers served a blow to the nation.
KDF troops pulled out of the El-Adde camp after the attack yesterday. The troops also moved from other camps in Badhadhe in a reorganisation that officials said was a manoeuvre.
The militants say they target the Kenyan security forces as part of efforts to push them to pull out of Somalia. KDF went to Somalia in 2011 before being rehated to Amisom in February 2012.
KDF have liberated 120 towns from Al-Shabaab militants in the period including Kismayo.
Tuesday, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), serving under Amisom were deployed in Kismayo as part of the forces securing the Jubbaland region. The troops replaced the Seirra Leonean forces, who withdrew from the mission last year. They will execute Amisom mandate in the region, alongside troops from Kenya and Burundi.
A battalion of ENDF arrived in Kismayo and was received by the Interim Jubba Administration Vice President Abdullahi Sheik Ismail Fartaag among other high ranking officials.
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