Kenya’s bomb experts to detonate IEDs along Somali border
Kenya’s authorities have deployed a team of bomb experts to detonate improvised explosive device (IEDs) planted along the roads near Kenya-Somalia border in Lamu by Al-Shabaab militants.
The personnel with Armoured vehicles were dispatched following frequent terror attacks involving IEDs along the Kiunga -Baragoi-Milimani area which has claimed several lives in the recent past.
Senior military sources indicate the Al-Shabaab has changed tactics by using IEDs to carry out ambush targeting security agents.
“The officers have been combing the areas to look for the explosives, as well as pursuing the Al-Shabaab militants hiding in the vast Boni forest,” said senior military officer who declined to be named on Thursday.
“The team is well equipped with bomb detectors from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) deployed with the Kenya Somalia border,” he said. The operation is led by KDF who have mapped the area.
The IEDs mainly target the General Service Unit, Administration police and Regular police vehicle that are not armoured.
On Tuesday, at least seven security officers were killed and three others injured when their vehicle ran over a landmine in the coastal region of Lamu.
The explosive is suspected to have been planted by Al-Shabaab militants, who pose a major security challenge.
The government has announced that the police will be equipped with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to help them perform their duties better without depending on the military.
There are also plans to provide Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected to officers deployed in volatile areas designed to withstand IED attacks.
