3 police officers killed in IED attack at Liboi, Garissa County

Three Administration Police officers died while two others suffered injuries when their vehicle hit a landmine near Kulan Dam in Liboi, Garissa County, early Wednesday morning.

The officers were travelling along the Liboi-Milan road in the vehicle belonging to the Kulan Administration Police Post when it hit the home-made bomb.

2 INJURED

The Nation cannot name the dead officers because their families are yet to be informed of their losses.

Three other officers — Dennis Mwachiru, Titus Mwangi and Peter Gakuo — were unhurt and have been accounted for.

Police Constables Oliver Ochieng’ and Nahashon Omondi were injured and are undergoing treatment.

ATTACKS

Police spokesman George Kinoti confirmed the incident, saying: "There was an attack this morning and we lost officers."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Kenya's eastern border with Somalia is notoriously restive and prone to attacks staged by Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militants.

The attack came a day after police warned of increased Islamist activity in the area.

Islamic militants "are dispatching operatives into parts of north eastern region to lay IEDs along routes used by our security patrols in efforts to frustrate our security operations at the border areas," the police statement said.

WARNING

Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet warned that some members of the terrorist group had sneaked into the country and were planning attacks.

In a statement, IGP Boinnet said the terror group was behind a series of attacks, including a recent attack in Mandera where a chief was killed.

The IGP, however, said police were on high alert and asked the public to be vigilant and report suspicious people to the police.

The Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu but began attacking Kenya in 2011 after Nairobi ordered its troops into Somalia to fight the militants.

Additional reporting by AFP.