Probe launched as woman hit by stray bullet in Mandera

Security agencies are investigating an incident where a woman was injured in the hand in Mandera Town after being hit by a stray bullet.

The incident occurred in the Barwaqo, Bulahawa area, and involved a 70-year-old woman, according to police, who reported the Sunday, September 28, 2025, incident.

Police said the woman was at her home near the border region when a stray bullet struck her in the upper right hand.

The bullet lodged in her upper hand, and the woman was later rushed to Mandera Referral Hospital, where surgery was successfully conducted to remove it.

Police said the bullet was fired from the nearby Somali’s Bula Hawa town, where ongoing clashes between armed groups over its control have been reported.

They added that they are pursuing the matter with local authorities for an amicable solution and stability.

There are fears among locals of more such incidents.

Last month, a 44-year-old Kenyan woman was killed after stepping on an explosive device at the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera Town.

Fatuma Madnur Mohamed died on August 14 after stepping on a suspected explosive remnant of war, police said.

The device had landed about 100 meters from the main border after being launched from Bula Hawa, Somalia, where local security agencies are clashing for control of the region.

Tension remains high in the area amid fears of spillover into Kenya.

Security officials said they had heightened alertness as fighting rages.

Authorities fear more casualties on the Somalia side as fighting between federal troops and forces loyal to Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe intensifies.

The confrontations center around the strategic town of Bula Hawa in the Gedo region, deepening tensions between Mogadishu and the semi-autonomous Jubaland administration.

Efforts are ongoing to de-escalate the conflict. Kenyan officials have increased patrols along the border to prevent any spillover.

Sporadic fighting has been reported just a few kilometres from the crossing point.

Kenya launched Operation Linda Nchi on October 14, 2011, after gunmen seized tourists at the Coast, which the government saw as a threat to the country’s sovereignty and its economic lifeline, tourism.

Kenya’s incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnapping of two Spanish women working for MSF at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The abductions were carried out by militants, whom the troops sought to push back under Operation Linda Nchi.

Two years later, the troops managed to take control of Kismayo port under Operation Sledgehammer.

The troops have since liberated many regions near Kenya’s porous border.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of President Siad Barre’s military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.