Public service vehicle hits bomb in northeast Kenya, 4 dead
Friday June 16 2017
Four people have been killed and 11 others seriously injured after their vehicle run over a roadside bomb in northeast Kenya. PHOTO | GOOGLE MAP
Four people have died and 11 others seriously injured after their vehicle run over a roadside bomb in northeast Kenya.
County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia confirmed the 12pm incident saying the Toyota Land Cruiser was heading to Mandera town from Elwak. The two towns, about 170km apart, are connected via a rural road.
"The vehicle operates on the road as a public service vehicle and was carrying 15 passengers when it [run over] on what we suspect to be an IED [improvised explosive device]," he said.
CHIEF DEAD
Mr Shisia said two government officials were among the victims of the explosion.
"It is unfortunate that two of my chiefs were in the same vehicle and [one] is dead and the other is in a critical condition," he said.
He said the injured are taken to Lafey Sub-County Hospital.
POLICE RESERVISTS
The county commissioner added that the scene of the blast has been a hotspot for a long time but security agents are working to improve safety.
"We are soon hiring police reservists to be posted in areas perceived [as] hotspots, especially on the borderline, so that we contain the situation," he said.
Last month, five police officers were killed when Mandera Governor Ali Roba's convoy was attacked.
TERRORISM
But Mr Shisia said there is no link between the two incidents, adding that investigations into Governor Roba’s incident are ongoing.
"We cannot link the two incidents because in one of them, Al-Shabaab never claimed responsibility," he said without specifying.
He mentioned areas between Fino and Lafey, and Fino and Arabia, that are vulnerable to attacks due to their proximity to the porous border.
Mandera is in Kenya's extreme northeast bordering Somalia and Ethiopia.
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