Al-Shabaab kills 2 teachers in Mandera school attack

Suspected Al-Shabaab militia have killed two teachers at a secondary school in Mandera, some two kilometres from the Kenya-Somalia border.

Mandera County Commissioner Olaka Kutswa said the attackers hurled explosives into Arabia Boys Secondary School, killing the two teachers.

He said the more than 20 assailants overpowered the four Kenya Police Reservists manning the school’s gate during the 1am incident at Lafey Sub-County.

“The attackers hurled an improvised explosive device into one of the two blocks housing non-local teachers, consequently killing two of them,” said Mr Kutswa.

Following the Arabia Boys Secondary School attack, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has summoned all security teams and commanders from the area to a meeting at the Kenya School of Government on Monday.

The county commissioner said the rest of the students and staff at the school are safe and plans are under way to counsel them.

Security officers have launched a hunt for the attackers as reinforcement was being marshalled. Mr Kutswa said, more personnel from the Kenya Defence Forces, the Rapid Deployment Unit, the General Service Unit, and the Kenya Police have been deployed to the area to beef up security.

Mandera has suffered terror attacks over the years, stifling development in the border county. In May, the Al Shabaab killed four at a quarry in Shimbir Fatuma, a remote location in Mandera town bordering Somalia.

In August, two people were killed by militia at Mandera South Sub County, an incident that prompted the area MP Adan Kullow to call an urgent meeting with local security leaders and elders.

Mr Kullow accused the security officers at the Kenya-Somalia border of laxity, saying they were taking bribes, and risking the lives of residents.