One police officer has been killed and two others were injured after a bomb that had been tied on a donkey cart exploded at the cross border between Mandera and Bula Hawa in Mandera county.
This incident happened today in the morning when officers manning the Mandera – Bula Hawa border stopped the two donkeys tied on a cart with their guide who were crossing from the Somalia side for usual inspection for contraband goods and other unwanted goods when the cart went off due to the controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) that was placed on it.
The Mandera – Bula Hawa border is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and the terrorists have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies which in the process kill or injure the police officers.
According to witnesses and law enforcement, the explosion at the border not only killed an officer but also started a massive fire that hurt the two donkeys as well.
According to Police, they suspect the explosive was remote-controlled by Al Shabab militants operating in the area because Mandera and the northern region have been experiencing a lot of attacks but the security agencies have managed to intercept them before happening.
‘’IEDs have become the most preferred weapons by the militants in Kenya due to their portability, easy assembling and devastating impact, hence the constant attacks from the Al-Shabaab terrorists especially in the Mandera and Garissa counties,’’ Kenya Police officers noted.
The increase in the terror attacks in the country, particularly in the Northeastern region, came after the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) made an incursion into Somalia in 2011.
Additionally, on Monday 15 January 2024, five Kenyan police officers were injured in a roadside blast in Mandera County, the northeast part of the country that shares the border with Somalia. The police said the officers were part of a convoy of three vehicles with 70 officers en route to Mandera from Elwak when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Lafey area.
