Gunmen killed eight people, including five road engineers and two police reservists, in an ambush near Mandera in north-eastern Kenya on Tuesday morning, police said.
The attack on a security vehicle escorting workers on the Mandera-Arabia-Lafey road is the latest in a string of assaults along a corridor close to the border with Somalia, where Kenyan forces have struggled to protect civilians and infrastructure projects.
What happened in the Mandera attack?
Attackers opened fire on the vehicle at Koromey, near Hagarsu, on the road between Mandera and Arabia towns, according to police accounts reported by The Standard and Citizen Digital.
Seven people died at the scene: five engineers and construction workers attached to the road project and two Kenya Police Reservists guarding them. The driver of the escort vehicle suffered gunshot wounds and died while being taken to Mandera County Teaching and Referral Hospital, police said. The victims have not been named.
Multi-agency security forces launched a manhunt and sent reinforcements to the border area, The Standard reported. Accounts of the time of the attack differ, with police quoted as saying it happened at about 6.30am.
Who is suspected of the Mandera road ambush?
No group had claimed responsibility by Tuesday afternoon. Armistice Security Consult International, a private security firm, said in an alert that the attack matched the pattern of previous al-Shabaab attacks in the area, The Kenya Times reported. Eastleigh Voice also described the attackers as suspected al-Shabaab militants. Police have not publicly identified the attackers.
Mohamed Adan Khalif, the governor of Mandera County, condemned the ambush and called on security agencies to bring those responsible to justice. “Individuals dedicated to advancing infrastructure and development in our county have lost their lives in such tragic circumstances,” he said. “The people of Mandera deserve peace and security.”
Why does the Mandera-Somalia border remain dangerous?
Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based affiliate of al-Qaeda, has carried out repeated attacks in Kenya since Kenyan troops entered Somalia in 2011, often targeting police, construction crews and buses in the counties along the porous border, including in an assault on a border police camp last year.
The Mandera-Arabia-Lafey corridor has seen several deadly incidents this year. In May, gunmen ambushed a passenger vehicle on the route to Arabia, killing at least six people from one family. In July, an ambush near Wantey Dam killed five security personnel, and in August six herders were abducted in Lafey sub-county, The Kenya Times reported.
Security forces also repelled an attack on a police station and a special operations camp in neighbouring Garissa County over the weekend, with no casualties, Pulse Kenya reported. Analysts have linked the persistence of armed groups in the region to cross-border smuggling and the illicit economy that finances them.
FAQ
How many people were killed in the Mandera attack?
Eight people were killed: five road engineers and construction workers, two Kenya Police Reservists and the driver of their escort vehicle, police said.
Where did the attack happen?
It happened at Koromey, near Hagarsu, on the Mandera-Arabia-Lafey road in Mandera County, north-eastern Kenya, near the border with Somalia.
Has anyone claimed the Mandera attack?
No group had claimed responsibility by Tuesday afternoon. A private security firm said the attack matched the pattern of earlier al-Shabaab attacks; police have not identified the attackers.
