NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 19 – Two police officers were killed on Wednesday after a Border Patrol Unit (BPU) vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along the Liboi–Kulan road in Garissa County, in an attack authorities have attributed to Somalia-based al-Shabaab militants.
Police Headquarters confirmed that of the seven officers aboard the vehicle, two died, one is missing, two are in critical condition, and three are stable and receiving treatment.
The Land Cruiser patrol vehicle was on routine surveillance near the Kenya–Somalia border when the explosion occurred.
According to officials, the militants planted the device on the roadside and remotely detonated it as the officers approached the area.
The blast tore through the vehicle, leaving it badly mangled and scattering debris across the dusty stretch, an area long plagued by militant incursions.
The attack comes after several months of relative calm credited to intensified security operations in Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties.
The government has stepped up patrols and deployed specialized anti-terror units to suppress al-Shabaab activity along the porous border.
October plot
In October, police in Garissa foiled a planned bomb attack at Welmerer–Yumbia after the elite Special Operations Group (SOG) confronted militants attempting to install IEDs on the road.
Acting on a tip-off from local residents, officers engaged the militants, recovered assembled explosives, and destroyed them before they could be used. The attackers managed to escape.
Security officials say increased cooperation with local communities has been crucial in intercepting such plots, with residents reporting suspicious movements by militants believed to be crossing into Kenya to stage attacks.
Later that month, a police officer, Constable Elijah Orwa, was shot dead in Dagahaley, Wajir County, in an ambush also linked to al-Shabaab.
Orwa and his colleagues had been responding to a shooting when attackers lying in wait opened fire, killing him instantly.
Garissa and neighbouring counties continue to grapple with the persistent threat posed by the terror group, whose fighters often retreat into Somalia after staging attacks.
