Al-shabaab militants/FILEAt least six people were killed on Sunday after al Shabaab militants overran a national police reserve camp in Fafi, Garissa County.
Police said four others were left with serious injuries after the attack that happened at about 5 am in Biyamadhow area.
It is suspected the attackers ransacked the camp and escaped with an unknown number of weapons.
They shot the victims and stabbed some. The attackers are also said to have suffered casualties in the raid on March 23.
There are fears of more similar attacks in the area after the militants were spotted mobilizing and moving towards Kenya.
The area is near the porous Kenya-Somalia border, which is usually breached by the militants. Locals have been complaining and reporting seeing the militants roaming, probing, and spying on security camps in the area.
Police said multi-agency teams had been dispatched to the region to pursue the gangs planning more attacks.
National police service spokesman Michael Muchiri said they are making more efforts to address the menace that has been persistent despite operations to tame the same.
“More personnel have been deployed to the area to confront the enemy. This is an unfortunate incident,” he said.
The bodies of the deceased were moved to a local mortuary while the injured were taken to the hospital.
More personnel have been sent to parts of Mandera where intelligence shows militants plan an attack on security personnel.
The motive of the militia is revenge for their kinsman, who was arrested by Kenyan security for terrorism offenses, officials said.
The officials said the militia also plans more incidents of kidnapping Kenyans. This has prompted security officials to enhance security at the border to tame any such plans.
Mandera has been a centre of interest in the past weeks after a group of rogue security officials from Somalia shot and killed a police officer over the same issue.
Elsewhere, police said multiagency teams are searching for a man who was abducted by gunmen in an attack in the Modika area, Garissa County.
A man who was in a car that was also hijacked and driven towards the Somali border said they were headed for the Ifo area when the vehicle was blocked.
Two men who were armed with pistols jumped out of the blocking car and bundled the occupants out in the March 19 incident.
They assaulted them and later took control of their salon car and drove off. They later abandoned one of them at the Lapset Road area and disappeared with the driver.
This came days after another gang believed to be al Shabaab militants abducted three men from Elwak area of Mandera County. The three are yet to be found, police said.
Police said a rider and his pillion passenger were riding from Elwak to Iresuki when the motorcycle developed a mechanical problem.
According to the police, they then called the mechanic to go assist them in repairing the motorcycle. However, the motorcycle was found abandoned along the Elwak-Mandera road at Bomba Doga, about 15 kilometers from Elwak town, in the March 17 incident.
It is suspected that the three were abducted by al Shabaab militants since the area remains a terror prone zone.
The area is the same one where five chiefs were last month abducted by the same gang. The terrorists have been attacking the area, affecting development at large.
Somalia has not had a stable government for decades. Security agents have mounted operations in the area in an effort to contain the terror-related attacks. Officials say this has led to the reduction of such incidents in general.
The incidents happened even as the US The embassy issued a new travel advisory warning to its citizens residing in Kenya. Americans have also been warned against traveling to the Kenya-Somalia border counties, which include Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Tana River, and coastal areas north of Malindi.
Kenyan authorities are yet to respond to the advisory. The embassy cautioned Americans from traveling to several areas, citing security risks such as crime, civil unrest, terrorism, banditryand kidnapping.
