At least eight security personnel were Sunday killed after a vehicle they were traveling in hit a set improvised bomb in Bojigaras area, Wajir County.

The victims included five Administration Police Officers and three police reservists.

Police authorities said the vehicle that the deceased were using ran over an Improvised Explosive Device which sent it flying.

Witnesses said the vehicle was badly damaged killing the victims who are on board. North Eastern regional coordinator Muhammad Saleh said those behind the attack escaped soon after the incident. He said preliminary findings pointed to Somalia’s Al-Shabaab terror gang. “The attackers escaped soon after the blast and we suspect Al-Shabaab is behind it,” he said. A reinforcement was immediately sent to the scene but nothing was salvaged in terms of life. It came in the wake of warnings of planned attacks by the terror group.

Authorities had last week warned the terrorists planned to stage attacks ahead of the end of Ramadan period. On June 6 at least 6 paramilitary personnel were killed and three others injured when their vehicle ran over an explosive at Liboi, Garissa County.

The scene of the attack in Harhar area is less than two kilometers from the main Kenya-Somalia border. The General Service Unit officers were patrolling the border aboard a truck when it ran over the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Witnesses said the explosive killed the five