Tuesday November 29, 2016
The Improvised Explosive Device. Police escaped an unhurt when one went off in Mandera on November 29, 2016. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
Police officers on patrol have survived a suspected Al-Shabaab attack on the Elwak-Dabacity road in Mandera.
The General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unit officers escaped unhurt after their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb on Tuesday morning.
The home-made bomb was planted by suspected Al-Shabaab attackers.
The officers had accompanied passenger buses and a lorry when the explosive went off at 9am, according to outgoing Mandera County police commander Job Boronjo.
BLOW UP BUSES
He said the five attackers were aiming to blow up buses using the road, adding that they took off when they saw police.
The attackers ran towards the Kenya-Somalia border on realising that the police escort was big.
A week ago, suspected Al-Shabaab militants were ambushed by police while planning to attack vehicles in the county that borders Somalia.
The militants took off, leaving their weaponry behind.
MAIN ENTRANCE
"We have enough measures in place to ensure we secure the area acting as the main entrance and exit to Mandera," Mr Boronjo told Nation.co.ke.
Al-Shabaab, greatly weakened by Kenyan forces in