Economy

Two more police officers killed after vehicle hits landmine

boinnet

Joseph Boinnet, Inspector-General of Police. file photo | nmg

Two more police officers died Thursday morning after their vehicle ran over a landmine on the Malelei-Kulan Road in Liboi, Garissa County, bringing to 11 the number of security officers killed by roadside bombs in the past two days.

Police sources said two other officers in the vehicle were injured, one critically, and were admitted to hospital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Kenya’s eastern border with Somalia is notoriously restive and prone to attacks by Al- Shabaab terrorists.

Al-Shabaab on Wednesday claimed responsibility for two separate roadside bomb attacks in Garissa and Mandera counties, which killed nine Administration Police officers.

Garissa has suffered several attacks linked to Al- Shabaab in the last few years, including the 2015 attack on a university in which 148 people were killed.

The latest attacks come days after police warned of increased terror activity in the area.

Al-Shabaab militants “are dispatching operatives into parts of north eastern region to lay improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along routes used by our security patrols in efforts to frustrate our security operations at the border areas,” a police statement said.

Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet warned that some members of the terrorist group had sneaked into the country and were planning attacks.

Al-Shabaab, which has launched devastating attacks on civilians in Kenya, says it is fighting because Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 after a string of attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil.

The Kenyan soldiers are part of a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force intended to shore up the weak UN-backed government.