- The officers were rescued to a local hospital ahead of planned evacuation to Nairobi.
- The suspect was found ringed with suicide vest after he had been killed, police said.
Image: NPS / TWITTER
Some 20 al Shabaab militants were on Wednesday evening killed in a clash with special forces in Mandera, police have confirmed.
Police spokeswoman Dr Resla Onyango said the terrorists ambushed the Special Operations Group (SOG) team at Ogorwen Location within Mandera County prompting a clash.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the resulting heavy gunfire exchange between the Officers who were on patrol, and the militants, left twenty militants fatally injured and eight NPS Officers injured. Police also recovered assorted weapons from the scene of the crime,” Dr Resla said.
The officers were pursuing the gang when they were attacked with a Rocket Propelled Grenade prompting the clash.
The officers were taken to a local hospital ahead of a planned evacuation to Nairobi.
A submachine gun and an RPG were among the items recovered at the scene.
The bodies of the terrorists were later processed for burial.
Kenyan security agencies have ramped up their war against al Shabaab militants operating near the main border.
Earlier on, troops at a camp in Sirari, Lamu killed one suspected suicide bomber who had attempted to stage an attack on the facility.
The suspect was found ringed with a suicide vest after he had been killed, police said.
The security team had earlier brought down a drone belonging to the terrorist group, which was on a surveillance mission at the camp.
Minutes later, the team detected a stranger trying to access the camp and confronted him with gunfire.
Officials said they are analysing the materials recovered from the drone and suspect to gather more information.
This came as Kenyan security ramped up operations against the terror group around the border to push out terror cells.
The recent attacks have forced the government to suspend plans to reopen the Kenya-Somalia border.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said this follows an increase in terror-related attacks along the Kenya-Somalia border in the past month that have claimed more than 30 lives most of them being security officers.
“The Government will delay the planned reopening of Kenya-Somalia border points until we conclusively deal with the recent spate of terror attacks and cross-border crime," Kindiki said.
“We have postponed the plans to reopen the main borders in Mandera, Wajir, Liboi and Kiunga due to the increased attacks by the terrorists in the past months. We will deal with them first then continue with the plans."
He made the remarks in the Dadaab refugee camp Wednesday while on the ongoing tour of the northern region to address terror-related attacks.
He said the plans to reopen the border points will continue.
The border points were closed in 2011 at the height of al Shabaab attacks.
Kindiki had in May this year announced Kenya and Somalia had resolved to open the border in phases, within the next 90 days.
He said that the Mandera/Belet Hawo (Belethawa) was to be the first to be opened in the next 30 days.
This particular border point provides entry from the Kenyan side at Mandera County.
His counterpart from Somalia, Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali said the Federal Government is committed to promoting and strengthening corporation with its neighbors to improve security.
The two also resolved to strengthen cross-border communication and information-sharing exchange between the two countries.
Kindiki said they had launched an operation targeting the terror cells in the area and the operation is also aimed at providing round-the-clock security to contractors and engineers working on key infrastructure projects in North Eastern Kenya and insulating them from criminal elements and extremists keen on sabotaging their operations.
“Construction of key roads such as Garissa-Wajir-Mandera and Lamu-Mandera roads will open up the North Eastern Region for development and economic growth.”
“The government has upscaled partnerships with the local communities to flush out criminal elements and violent extremists,” he said.
To ensure the safety of security officers, he added, plans are at an advanced stage to procure modern equipment, including choppers, drones, MRAPs, and armored personnel carriers.
He added the government will invest more than Sh20 billion in modernisation of security equipment and address the welfare of security officers.
He also met and held a consultative engagement with the local Security and Intelligence Committee, National Government Administration Officers, community and religious leaders.
“Through collaborative partnerships with community and religious leaders, security agencies will crush violent extremists, combat cross-border crime, and facilitate development in the North Eastern region,” he said.
Kenyan troops are in Somalia under African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to help in fighting the al-Shabaab terror group. KDF went to Somalia in October 2011.