Al Shabaab attack police in Mandera
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Updated 1 hrs 14 mins ago
By
Cyrus Ombati
Two police officers were Thursday morning shot and seriously
wounded in an ambush by gunmen along the Mandera-Garisa road in the latest
assault on Kenyan security agents by Al Shabaab militants.
The officers were attacked in Arabia area on the main road as they
raced towards Garisa Town at about 9 am.
A survivor, Mr John Mbaluka said the attackers
were about 40 and had distributed themselves in groups.
Mbaluka, who is the area deputy OCPD, told The
Standard on phone he
survived by a whisker and that among the wounded was his driver and another
officer.
“They attacked us six times until the last one
where they stood in front of the vehicle sprayed bullets at us. It is by grace
of God that I am alive. Their agenda was to finish us,” said Mbaluka.
One of the injured officers had a bullet lodged
in the ribs while the other had his hands injured.
Mbaluka narrated how he jumped out of the moving
car after the driver had been demobilized by a bullet and engaged the gang.
After the confrontation, he drove back to Arabia
Town which is a few kilometers away from Mandera with the injured officers.
Mbaluka explained there was no way he and the
officers could have fought the attackers because they were numrous and
heavily armed.
Asked on who he thought they were, he said they
are members of Al Shabaab.
“Those are Al Shabaab, and they are planning to
commit crimes there. We have called the military which will help to transfer
the injured and reinforce us.”
The attack is the third in the area in two
weeks. Previous attacks left one schoolgirl dead and locals protesting.
An intelligence brief shared amongst security
agents in the area indicated the attackers were members of Al-Shabaab.
According to the brief the attackers had left Godondowe in Somalia and were
dressed in Transitional Federal Government troops uniforms.
“They plan to strike Lafey, Arabia, Mandera,
Elwak and Burahache at ago. 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.
The incident came days after gunmen stormed into
two churches in Garissa Town and killed 18 people before injuring more than 60
attacks in simultaneous attacks.
Police are yet to make any arrest so far and say
they are pursuing several leads into the same.
Acting internal security minister Yusuf Haji
said they are sending 700 additional security agents and 14 vehicles to help in
addressing the problem of insecurity.
The area has experienced the highest number of
attacks since Kenyan troops crossed to Somalia to hunt down the criminals
behind the incidents.
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