Police Officers Feared Dead After Vehicle Runs Over Car Bomb

“We have reports of a police vehicle hit by an explosive but I am yet to know the exact number of casualties,” Siele stated.

Such attacks are common in the area as Al-Shabaab militants breach security posts to attack at will, with police stating that they have foiled dozens of similar planned attacks.

The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by residents. The terrorists at times plant explosives on the routes used by security agencies and attack them.

In the same county on Wednesday, January 11, an IED attack that occurred in Bura East claimed the lives of four people, among them engineers from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).

Reports at the time indicated that the vehicle they were travelling in, a Toyota Hilux Double Cabin model, ran over the car bomb planted by suspects attached to the notorious terrorist group.

The deceased were said to have been on a routine assessment of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project. They were travelling from Garissa to Hailey Chinese Camp and then to Bura East.

The Toyota Hilux vehicle, registered as KBV 502S, was completely destroyed in the blast. The other two vehicles, which were also part of the convoy, turned back to Hailey camp immediately after the attack.

KeNHA stated that it had reached out to Garissa County Commissioner, Boaz Cherutich, who confirmed the incident.

“We want to appeal to the local people around that area to be calm as we pursue the criminals. The government will continue with the sustained operation to flush them out,” Cherutich said.

“We also want to assure the public that we will arrest them to face the law and bring calm back in the area,” he added.

Garissa which sits on the Kenya-Somalia border continues to face the threat of attacks from the Shabaab terror outfit due to the vast and porous border which has made it easier for terrorist elements to infiltrate the country and stage attacks.

While giving the state of security in the country during the first 100 days, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki on Monday, February 6 announced that the Ministry of Interior stepped up in the war against terror.

“We have disrupted many terror plots at source, neutralised and/or arrested dozens of suspected terrorists, and destroyed a huge cache of weapons and explosives that could have badly harmed our people if they were not intercepted.

“The current crackdown on Al-Shabaab terror cells in Somalia which is spearheaded by local community leaders with the support of the Federal Government of Somalia has tremendously weakened this militant group,” he revealed.