Two dead as al Shabaab wreck havoc on major Lamu highway
On Monday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said an unknown number of people were missing after the attack on the Lamu-Witu-Garsen Highway at Lango la Simba near the border of Lamu and Tana River counties on Monday evening.
“Security personnel from Nyangoro Forward Operation Base who were conducting clearance patrols along the highway responded rapidly and an engagement with the approximately 60 terrorists ensued, scatting them into the Boni Forest,” said Kindiki.
He said one of the victims succumbed to injuries while being evacuated for emergency treatment.
“While a combined security operation of elite contingents of the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces is currently underway, treatment of the injured and the search and rescue of missing civilians is going on.
The area near the border with Somalia has suffered a series of terrorist attacks.
On June 24, 11 people were killed when bandits, numbering between six and 30, descended on Salama and Juhudi villages in the remote parts of Kibaoni from about 10.30am.
The state has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Salama, Juhudi, Widho Marafa, Mashogoni, and Ukumbi in Lamu West
The terrorists have been attacking places near the Kenyan border by using guns and explosives leaving dozens dead and many injured.
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 months.
“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.”
And with the ongoing operation in parts of Somalia against the al Shabaab, Kenya expects the attacks in the border region will continue.
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 the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to help in fighting the al-Shabaab terror group. KDF went to Somalia in October 2011.
Source: msn
