Al-Shabab Kills One In Attack In Coastal Kenya
Al-Shabab militants on Tuesday ambushed a water bowser ferrying water to the construction site of the Kenya-Somalia security border wall, killing one person.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia said the bowser, with a driver and his assistant on board, ran over an improvised explosive device believed to have been planted in its way by the militants before exploding at around 7:30 a.m. in Lamu county.
Macharia said the vehicle had just left the border town of Kiunga in Lamu East and was heading to Usalama camp on the common border when it ran over the explosive device.
“The two were part of the team of construction workers here. Unfortunately, the conductor was killed on the spot but the driver escaped unhurt. But we want to assure all that the ground is well policed and therefore no cause for concern,” Macharia told Xinhua on the phone.
Macharia said troops had been adequately deployed to hunt down the militants, noting that a team of security officers has been mobilized to look into the safety of the construction workers and other staff at the site.
The government official, however, reiterated that construction works at the border wall had not been hampered by the attack and that the scene of attacks is far away from the camp. He appealed to residents of border villages to volunteer any useful information that will enable security agencies to counter any planned terror-attacks in the region.
Security sources said that about 30 armed militants fired randomly at the convoy killing one worker on the spot.
The police believe that the militant group still remains the major threat in areas along the coastal region, noting that the targets include security personnel and establishments along the border as well as commuter vehicles plying routes along the coastal regions.
The 700-kilometer wall, dubbed the Kenya-Somalia border securitization project, was mooted in 2015 to secure the country from attacks by the Somalia-based al-Shabab terrorists.
The entire project plan includes having designated immigration and custom entry points with a two-foot-tall concrete wall fitted with CCTV cameras.
