5 police officers killed, 4 injured in Mandera attack

Five police officers have been killed and four others injured after suspected Al Shabaab gunmen attacked their vehicle between Kotulo and Elwak towns in Mandera County.

Reports indicate that the militants ambushed the police officers on Monday morning in the village near the Kenya-Somalia border.

In a statement, signed by police spokesman George Kinoti, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett confirmed that the attack had taken place when a police vehicle, with nine officers on board, escorted a desert Cruiser Bus heading to Mandera from Wajir.

“In the incident, five police officers, among the nine inside the Land Cruiser, lost their lives in the ensuing exchange of fire. Bravely, the other officers managed to secure the bus which arrived in Elwak safely with the passengers,” he stated.

“The scene has been secured and police reinforcement immediately dispatched to the area of attack. Security agencies are currently in hot pursuit if the attackers.”

The attack has been condemned by Mandera Governor Ali Roba who said information about the presence of the militants in the area had been shared but no action was taken.

“We condemn the attack by Al Shabaab at Dimu this morning where five police officers were killed. The info about their presence was long shared by the locals,” Governor Ali Roba said on his Twitter account.

This comes just months after an attack in a Nairobi-bound bus at the same area where at least two people were killed.

In the December attack, a group of Muslims shielded Christians from the Al Shabaab attackers by refusing to be separated from them.

In 2014, Al Shabaab militants attacked another bus near Mandera killing 28 people who were travelling to Nairobi for the Christmas holidays.

@benjaminwafula