Bomb blast kills policeman in northern Kenya

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A police officer was killed and three others were injured in northern Kenya when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) near the porous border with Somalia.

Speaking to reporters, Rono Bunei, North Eastern province’s police chief, said: “The injured were taken to hospital. The Wednesday’s attack was unfortunate, we are calling on the locals to work with us to stop the attacks”.

Security officials in Kenya told reporters that the attack in Mandera county was carried out by Somali-based al-Shabaab terrorists, who cross to Kenya via the porous border. However, there is no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Kenya has deployed more forces in the area due to an increase of attacks on security forces recently.

Last week, police killed two suspected al-Shabaab terrorists, arrested three others and recovered weapons in the same area where the attack took place.

The terrorists have destroyed over a dozen telecommunication masts in Mandera county and other northern Kenyan towns in a bid to hamper communication between locals and security personnel.

Earlier this week, Kenya’s Department of Defense cleared the procurement of 118 state-of-the-art military vehicles from Turkey at a price of nearly $70 million.

Al-Shabaab terrorists have long carried out improvised explosive devices attacks in Kenya targeting security officers patrolling the porous Kenya-Somali border.