- Their bodies were found Friday morning long after they had succumbed to their injuries after they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, police said.
- Six others were injured and evacuated on Thursday night by response teams.
Image: THE STAR
At least four elite police officers from the Special Operations Group (SOG) were Thursday killed in an ambush by al Shabaab terrorists in the Guba area, Elwak, Mandera County.
Their bodies were found Friday morning long after they had succumbed to their injuries after they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, police said.
Six others were injured and evacuated on Thursday night by response teams.
Police said five al Shabaab terrorists were killed in the clash that happened on Thursday, July 11 evening as a team from SOG pursued suspected terrorists who had been sighted in the area.
Five other police officers who were missing were found alive but with injuries.
SOG is an elite team under the Border Patrol Unit which is charged with containing terror activities along the main porous Kenya-Somalia border.
They have managed to contain terror activities in the area in general.
The officers were trailing gunmen in the area when they were ambushed at about 6 pm on Thursday.
They hit back and killed five of the attackers.
The team recovered assorted weapons from the suspects in the clash as others escaped with injuries.
The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border, which is usually breached by terror groups who come and attack the region and escape back.
A chopper was later dispatched to the area to pick up the injured and the bodies, police said.
The police operations in the area have thwarted planned attacks in Kenya.
More personnel have been deployed in the area to tame the attacks.
Locals have always been urged to work with security agencies to tame the trend.
This is because such attacks cannot happen without the knowledge of the locals.
This comes amid heightened security following fears the terror group could be planning an attack after a long lull.
The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.
Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.
The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and stage attacks before escaping back.
Al-Shabaab terrorists have been attacking places in the region, especially in Mandera and Garissa counties after breaching security zones, which left dozens of civilians and security officials dead and wounded. The terrorists have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies. Kenyan troops are in Somalia to pursue and suppress the activities of the terror group.
But the terrorists keep crossing to Kenya for attacks.