At least four passengers were Wednesday killed and six were seriously injured after a matatu they were traveling in was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device in Mandera.
The matatu with 14 passengers was heading to Takaba from Mandera town when it ran over a set IED between Wargadud and Elele, police said.
The incident happened Wednesday, June 21 at about 2.30 pm.
A nonlocal who was on board was rescued and taken to a local police camp.
The injured victims were rushed to hospital with multiple injuries.
This came hours after two police officers and a local engineer were Tuesday killed in a similar IED attack at Tarbi area in Guba Ward along the Banisa-Rhamu road in Mandera County increasing the number of those killed to six in less than 24 hours.
Five other officers were injured in the Tuesday, June 20 incident, police said.
Police said the incident happened when the vehicle the officers were traveling in was hit by an IED.
The vehicle was on escort duties and was escorting a PSV bus when the incident happened, police said.
Wednesday’s was the latest such incident to happen in the area amid fears of more are on the way.
Al-Shabāab terrorists are conducting attrition operations targeting both logistics and security men along the Kenya-Somalia border.
At least 30 people including more than 20 security officials have died in the area in the past month in attacks by the terrorists.
This is despite ongoing campaigns to address the menace.
The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.
Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.
The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and stage attacks before escaping back.
Al Shabaab terrorists have been attacking places in the region, especially in Mandera and Garissa counties after breaching security zones, which left dozens of civilians and security officials dead and wounded.
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The terrorists have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies.
They also targeted development projects like roads.
Kenyan troops are in Somalia to pursue and suppress the activities of the terror group.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the government will in the next year modernize military and police artillery in a renewed move to bring an end to al Shabaab attacks both in the country and neighboring Somalia.
The equipment will include sophisticated armored personal carriers with the ability to detect improvised explosive devices along the areas under their command.
The CS said the government in the next three months will buy sophisticated equipment to help the police and the Kenya defense forces in the fight against the terrorists and that the government will not be intimidated in any way.