Three Anti-Stock Theft Unit officers were injured on Monday after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked Mandera’s Elram base.
Elram is about 10kms to the Somalia border.
Police said the heavily armed militants used six high explosive bombs and PKM rifles in a daring daytime raid which happened around 3pm.
The three officers who escaped with multiple injuries were reportedly wounded by flying pellets from the bombs.
“The attack lasted for about thirty minutes after being repulsed by a fierce exchange of fire from the section which was just out on foot patrols,” read a police report seen by Capital FM News.
A KDF jet fighter from Wajir was called in to bombard the area in efforts to reinforce the ASTU personnel.
The injured officers were expected to be airlifted to Nairobi for specialized treatment.
The attack came two weeks after three people cheated death after the vehicle they were traveling in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in a suspected Al-Shabaab attack in Mandera’s Wargadud area.
Police said the victims escaped with significant injuries during the incident which occurred at Dadach Qatarow between Ires Kinto and Domog along Wargadud-Takaba road.
The victims: Shaban Maalim Alio, 36, sustained left broken leg; Abdiwahid Gabow Alio, 29, suffered a broken right leg while Mayow Hussein, 33, was said to have sustained bruises on both hands and legs and complained of neck and chest pains.
“It was established that a m/v reg KAK 928N Toyota Landcruiser double white in colour with a green canvas belonging to frontier construction company was being driven from Takaba towards Wargadud and upon reaching the site it ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED),” police said on Friday.
Following the attack, the motor vehicle was partly burnt from the front completely damaging the engine.
Counties in Kenya’s northeastern region have borne the brunt of the militant attacks due to their proximity to Somalia, the operating base for the Al Shabaab militants.
The terror outfit has mostly targeted security personnel, civil servants and passenger vehicles in the region in the recent years as they shift their modus operandi from direct engagements with security agencies to guerilla-like tactics which include planting of IEDs along the routes and attacks on security installations and infrastructure like communication masts.