By CYRUS OMBATI

Three people have been arrested and more than 50 bullets recovered from them following the killing of a police officer in an attack in Lagdera near the Somalia border.

The three were arrested at a police roadblock hours after the incident, which also left another officer seriously injured.

North Eastern police boss Philip Tuimur said they are interrogating the three over the attack of the Administration Police officers.

“We do not know where they were taking the ammunition but officers are talking to them as part of the investigation,” said the police boss.

The officers were on patrol when they were ambushed by gunmen police believe are remnants of Somalia’s Al Shabaab militants.

Their vehicle was badly damaged in the attack that occurred on Monday evening in the latest incident targeting security agents since Kenyan troops moved to Somalia.

A police chopper was scheduled to fly the injured officer from Dadaab refugee camp to Nairobi for further treatment.

Kenya has been hit by a wave of grenade and bomb attacks since its troops entered Somalia last October.

The attackers have targeted Kenya’s northeast, the capital Nairobi and Mombasa, threatening the country’s lucrative tourist trade.

Seriously wounded

The attack came days after two other officers were shot and seriously wounded by gunmen along the Mandera-Garissa road.

The officers were attacked in Arabia area on the main road as they raced towards Garissa at about 9am.

Area deputy OCPD John Mbaluka told The Standard on phone that about 40 men attacked them.

Mbaluka said he survived by a whisker and that among the wounded was his driver and another officer.

An intelligence brief seen by The Standard indicated the attackers were members of Al Shabaab and had left Godondowe in Somalia dressed in Transitional Federal Government troops uniforms.

“They plan to strike Lafey, Arabia, Mandera, Elwak and Burahache at a go. The militia will be dressed in TFG uniforms as a disguise and will use both explosives and AK47 rifles to cause serious impact. They target vital installations and government officials,” read part of the report.

It is not clear what action security agencies had taken to address the issue.

Early this month, gunmen stormed two churches in Garissa and killed 18 people and injured more than 60 others. Police are yet to make any arrests but are pursuing several leads.