by CYRUS OMBATI
Wednesday October 4, 2023
At least two al Shabaab logisticians were Tuesday killed when a bomb they were setting up exploded on them in the Amuma area, Garissa county.
Police said the two were placing the Improvised Explosive Device on the main supply route used by security agencies and other motorists when it exploded.
Security teams that responded to the scene found the badly mutilated bodies sprawled all over there.
Officials said this indicates the terrorists are now attempting to deploy the explosives after a slight decline in attacks in September.
Witnesses said the gang had dug a usually busy route ready for the emplacement of the remote controlled bomb when it went off.
The body parts were picked up for disposal, police said adding they are investigating the incident.
It is the latest such incident in the area after a lull for days.
Such incidents are common in the area amid calls on the locals to raise alarm on them whenever they witness the same.
Police say they have upped their operations in the area to tame the plans for the attacks.
A number of ambushes have happened in the past two months which left dozens of security agents dead and injured.
The area is near the Kenya- Somalia border where the terrorists cross and launch attacks inland.
Last month, the militants kidnapped and killed a brother to a senior administrator in Garissa county, locals said.
The militants raided the home of Yakub Kussow, the chief of Yumbis in the Faficonstituency, and abducted Abdirashid Hassan Hanshi alias Juma who is his brother.
The victim was at the scene during the incident.
The militants were pursuing the chief, officials said.
The militants have been carrying sporadic attacks within Kenya as they face pressure from Somalia due to ongoing operations.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki announced that Kenya will be deploying more elite Special Forces along the border with Somalia, particularly in Garissa, Mandera, Wajir, and Lamu counties.
The al Shabaab have lost significant territories in recent weeks according to authorities in Somalia.
A major operation is ongoing in the area to address al-Shabaab-related attacks, which happen because of others, the proximity to the main Kenya-Somalia border.
The area near the border with Somalia has suffered a series of terrorist attacks.
The recent attacks have forced the government to suspend plans to reopen the Kenya-Somalia border.
The gang behind the attacks crossed from Somalia and launched 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.