Three cops wounded in Shabaab attack on Mandera camp

Could al Shabaab be planning an Election Day surprise, or trying to keep people away from the polls on Tuesday?

It looks that way given the rash of attacks with bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, IEDs and machine guns. Election Day could be too good to pass up, cause fear and disruption. 

Countrywide safety is one of security agents' top concerns, especially in the Northeast but they don't disclose counter-insurgency plans, except to say extra personnel are deployed where needed.

Air power also has been used to scare off attackers, sending them fleeing back to Somalia. 

Three police officers on Monday were injured in a high explosive bomb attack by suspected al Shabaab militants on their camp at the El-Ram, Kutulo, Mandera county.

It was the second such attack by the militants on the Anti-Stock Theft Unit base. The earlier attack on July 25 left three officers wounded.

On Monday, about 50 militants returned with heavy fire, PK machine guns and high explosive bombs.

Police said they first attacked with bombs followed by gunfire at about 4pm.

In the confusion, three officers sustained deep cuts, probably from shrapnel, as others fought off the incursion.

After a 20-minute battle, the police team repulsed the attackers after a military jet aircraft responded and frightened them off, witnesses told police.

A Kenya Defence Forces jet came to the aid of the officers whose camp was attacked by a gang that had crossed from the nearby Somalia border. The aim appeared to be to overrun the camp.

The attack came just days after another team of security agents narrowly escaped death after a herder alerted them to explosives planted along the road in Liboi, Garissa county.

The team was using Kulan-Liboi road when the herder alerted them to a freshly dug area and he said a bomb was probably planted there by al-Shabaab terrorists.

They changed their route and alert bomb disposal experts from the police and military. They found two improvised explosive devices in the middle of the road. They were removed and destroyed.

Police said intelligence had indicated dozens of the al-Shabaab terrorists have invaded the area to attack residents and security force.

On Thursday last week, they tried to attack Korof Harar police station using rocket-propelled grenades but were repulsed.

Another group of terrorists set up an IED on the Mandera-Rhamu Road in Qumbiso area but residents alerted the police.

Police fear terrorists are planning a bigger attack in the area and have called for heightened vigilance.

Northeastern police boss George Seda called on residents to help them curb the movements of armed militants who are crossing the main Kenya-Somalia border, which is porous.

Security and government agents have been campaigning to end the security menace.

The attacks and IEDs have forced tens of non-local and local teachers as well teachers to flee. Schools have closed.

Other non-local professionals have also fled, despite heightened security operations.

The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks militants, sometimes aided by residents. Somalia has not had a stable government since the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.

The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will, attack and escape back into Somalia,

Shabaab terrorists have been attacking the region, especially in Mandera and Garissa counties after breaching security zones, leaving dozens of civilians and security personnel dead or wounded.

They frequently plant explosives along routes used by security agencies.

Kenyan troops are in Somalia to pursue and suppress the terror group.

(Edited by V. Graham)

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