Gunmen shot dead at least eight people in an ambush in Mandera County on Tuesday morning. The attack happened at Koromey, near Hagarsu along Arabia Road. Police said the attackers opened fire on a security vehicle escorting engineers and other staff on the Mandera-Arabia-Lafey road project.
Preliminary police reports cited by The Star said five of the dead were engineers working on the road. Two were Kenya Police Reservists (KPR) assigned to protect the workers. The driver of the security vehicle suffered critical gunshot wounds. He died while being rushed to Mandera County Teaching and Referral Hospital. Pulse Sports Kenya reported that the other seven died at the scene.
A police officer confirmed the attack. He said more officers had been sent to the area to pursue the gang. The Star reported that the attackers targeted the security escort directly. The newspaper said this raises fresh concerns about the safety of people building infrastructure in the region.
The area lies near the Kenya-Somalia border, which The Star says al-Shabaab often crosses to stage attacks in Kenya. The reports did not say who carried out Tuesday's ambush. Police said tension had been building in the area over fears of attacks by the militant group.
The ambush followed other recent attacks in the northeast. At around 1.20am on November 7, militants fired on Hulugho Police Station and the Gesreb SOG Camp in Hulugho Sub-County, Garissa County. Police said three suspected militants fired three rounds from an AK rifle at the police station. At the same time, the camp, which hosts a multi-agency security team, came under sustained fire from a PKM machine gun. Security personnel drove off the attackers. The first police report recorded no casualties or damage.
In a separate incident, forces at the Damasa Forward Operating Base in Mandera County fought off six suspected al-Shabaab militants at around 10.30pm. A drone spotted them near the Kenya-Somalia border as they approached the camp's defences. Troops engaged them with indirect fire. The militants fired back with AK-47 rifles and a PKM machine gun before withdrawing. Pulse Sports Kenya reported no casualties among security personnel.
Security agencies have since stepped up patrols and surveillance along the border corridor. Police described the situation around the Damasa camp as calm.