GARISSA, Dec. 11 – At least one police officer was killed and nine military officers seriously injured today in twin landmine explosions in Wajir and Mandera on Sunday. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by members of the Al-Shabaab group. Regional police commander Leo Nyongesa confirmed the two incidents, which took place almost simultaneously around midday.
In Mandera, Nyongesa said that four police officers who were on a regular patrol along Border Point Three area were hit. At least one police officer was killed and three others injured. “I think the police officers might have stepped on a landmine. One officer was killed while three others were seriously injured,” Nyongesa told Xinhua by telephone. Al-Shabaab, disguised as local civilians mostly target Kenyan security agents, the paramilitary wing of the police during movements to and from their operations around the border region.
In Wajir, he said the land rover which was in a convoy of three other vehicles heading to Mandera stepped on the land mine that had been placed right in the middle of the road at 1:00 p.m. local time (1000GMT) on Sunday. According to an eye witnesses, the injured officers were rushed to the Wajir district hospital for treatment. The source who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal said he heard a loud bang which followed by smokes. “We were resting in a small canteen chewing miraa, when we saw the other two vehicles which had military officers passing, all I remember is hearing a loud explosion which was followed by smokes just seconds after the third land rover come passing, “added the source who spoke on phone.
Following the incident military officers surrounded the nearby settlement in a bid to arrest those behind the attack. Wajir District Commissioner, Kennedy Nyaiyo who confirmed the incident immediately condemned the incident, saying that “such characters out to cause havoc in the district that has enjoyed peace for long would not be spared.”
Nyongesa said that security had been beefed up in the district. “I want to take this earliest opportunity to condemn this criminal incident, we will make sure that we get all those involved to book from their hideouts,”Nyongesa told Xinhua by telephone. “It’s also my appeal to the residents of Wajir and the region at large to remain calm and offer any tangible information that will help us arrest this criminals who might be hiding in their midst,” said the regional police chief.
The incident comes barely days after an administration police officer was killed and three others seriously injured in Ifo refugee camp 2 in Dadaab district after a land mine exploded at a regular checkpoint. The three officers on regular patrol had packed their car and were resting under a tree on the road linking Ifo to Dagahaley when the device suspected to have been remote controlled exploded.
Last month one military officer was killed, while ten others sustained serious injuries after the vehicle they were patrolling on hit an explosive in the border town of Mandera in North-Eastern region bordering the war-torn Somalia. Kenya has been beset by a spate of grenade and landmine attacks since it launched cross border incursion into neighboring Somalia last month to pursue the al Qaeda allied Al- Shabaab militant group. Kenyan officials have blamed the hardline Al-Shabaab or their sympathizers for a spate of recent shootings and bombings, although armed bandits also operate in the border areas.
Nyongesa urged the people to weary of any suspicious looking persons they may spot amidst to them to forestall the criminal plots. The extremist militia faces growing pressure as regional armies slowly encircle them, with Kenyan forces in the south, Ugandan and Burundian African Union forces in Mogadishu and Ethiopian troops in the west. The conflict however comes at a cost for civilians caught up in the skirmishes. (Xinhua)
