Police officer killed, three injured in Mandera explosion

The explosive device was mounted on donkey-drawn cart. [Ibrahim Adan Ali, Standard]

One police officer died and three others were injured in Mandera explosion on Thursday.

County Commissioner Amos Mariba said the explosive device was mounted on donkey-drawn cart and exploded when it reached the border control point in the early morning incident.

Mariba said the officers were on patrol at the border entry point when the donkey-drawn cart that was ferrying fuel came through from Somalia side exploding at the site.

"The donkey-drawn cart was loaded with jerricans full of fuel and an explosive device was hidden inside the donkey cart. It exploded at the site our officers were manning and we lost one police officer and three others were injured in the incident," said the County Commissioner on phone.

The injured officers are receiving treatment at Mandera County Referral Hospital.

According to the hospital report, one of the officers suffered serious head injuries.

Mariba said the man who was leading the donkey jumped from the cart before the device exploded at the border crossing point and ran towards Belet Haawa town in Somalia.

He told The Standard that police have arrested one suspect in connection with the incident.

"We are working closely with our security counterparts in Somalia to bring the perpetrator to book and meanwhile we have one suspect in police custody," he said.

The Standard has established that on a single day, tens of donkey-drawn carts ferrying assorted items pass through Belet Haawa town border to Mandera.

Kenya closed the border with Somalia in 2010 but the Mandera border point remains open due to a local arrangement.

The border point has not been operational following the explosion after the officers manning the different entry points retreated.