In two separate attacks in Kenya’s coastal and eastern regions on Tuesday, the al-Shabaab terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the deaths of at least 12, including six soldiers.
Police claim that the attackers targeted security agencies while they were traveling on roads and injured numerous people with the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In the first incident, al-Shabaab militants allegedly fired at a passenger bus in the eastern county of Mandera, causing the driver to make a pointless stop. With a deflated tire, the driver sped off, sparing the lives of close to 50 passengers.
According to police in the eastern county of Garissa, the terrorist organization used an explosive device to target Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers, killing four of them when their vehicle struck an IED.
The police officer, who was reluctant to be identified, claimed that the staff members also came under gunfire attacks. Six National Police Reserve (NPR) officers were killed when a team of NPR officers reacted and met rebellion. Two soldiers were killed when a KDF vehicle was
struck by another IED in the coastal Lamu county, according to police, who also noted that the attacks happened almost simultaneously. Twelve security personnel have now died as a result of the two terrorist attacks.
Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks both within Somalia and in neighboring Kenya, targeting civilians, the Somali state, and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
The attacks highlight the endemic security problems in the Horn of Africa country as it struggles to emerge from decades of conflict and natural disasters.
Last year, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched an “all-out war” against Al-Shabaab, rallying Somalis to help flush out members of the jihadist group he described as “bedbugs”.
In recent months, the army and militias known as “macawisley” have retaken swathes of territory in the centre of the country in an operation backed by ATMIS and US airstrikes.
But despite the gains by the pro-government forces, the militants have continued to strike with lethal force against civilian and military targets.
