Five members of the elite police unit Special Operations Group (SOG) died in the ambush by al Shabaab terrorists on Wednesday, July 5 at Ogorwen Location within Mandera County.
The officers succumbed to the injuries after being hit by a grenade in an ambush.
Police killed at least 20 al-Shabaab militants in the clash.
SOG is a specialized group of police involved in operations against terrorists along the main border with Somalia.
Police spokeswoman Dr Resla Onyango confirmed the incident and said the terrorists ambushed the Special Operations Group (SOG) team at Ogorwen Location within Mandera County prompting a clash.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the resulting heavy gunfire exchange between the Officers who were on patrol, and the militants, left twenty militants fatally injured and eight NPS Officers injured. Police also recovered assorted weapons from the scene of the crime,” said Dr Resla.
The officers were pursuing the gang when they were attacked with a Rocket Propelled Grenade prompting the clash.
Five died later. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki confirmed the deaths and announced a major operation was ongoing in the area.
“I ask security officers to ruthlessly deal with terrorists, bandits, and other armed criminals.
Last night in Elwak, the criminals killed five of our officers.
There will be no mercy for criminals harming our officers,” Kindiki said on Thursday.
A submachine gun and an RPG were among the items recovered at the scene.
The bodies of the terrorists were later processed for burial.
This came as Kenyan security ramped up operations against the terror group around the border to push out terror cells operating there.
The recent attacks have forced the government to suspend plans to reopen the Kenya-Somalia border.
Kindiki said this follows an increase in terror-related attacks along the Kenya-Somalia border in the past month that have claimed more than 30 lives most of them being security officers.
“The Government will delay the planned reopening of Kenya-Somalia border points until we conclusively deal with the recent spate of terror attacks and cross-border crime.”
“We have postponed the plans to reopen the main borders in Mandera, Wajir, here Liboi, and Kiunga due to the increased attacks by the terrorists in the past months.
We will deal with them first then continue with the plans,” he said.
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He made the remarks in the Dadaab refugee camp Wednesday while on the ongoing tour of the northern region to address terror-related attacks.
He said the plans to reopen the border points will continue.
The border points were closed in 2011 at the height of the al Shabaab attacks.
Kindiki had in May this year announced Kenya and Somalia had resolved to open the border in phases, within the next 90 days.
On Wednesday while on his second day of the visit to the area, Kindiki said they had launched an operation targeting the terror cells in the area.
The terrorists have been attacking places near the Kenyan border by using guns and explosives leaving dozens dead and many injured.
The gang behind the attacks cross from Somalia and launch them amid a campaign to address the issue.
Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.
Kenyan troops are in Somalia under African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to help in fighting the al-Shabaab terror group. KDF went to Somalia in October 2011.
