Lamu; One dead, four injured after KDF troops drove over an IED
One soldier lost his life while five others are nursing injuries after a car they were traveling in drove over an improvised explosive device (IED), on Friday, December 30, morning.
According to a Kenya Defence Forces communiqué, five troops were injured in the incident, with those who were badly injured being airlifted to the Defence Forces Memorial Hospital, while others were treated at the Manda Base Hospital and are in stable condition.
The incident is alleged to have occurred at 7:30am, while KDF forces were on patrol in the Mlima Faru area of Lamu County.
Chief of Strategic Communications, Brigadier Z. Kioko said, “The entire KDF fraternity condoles with the family of our fallen hero and wishes a quick recovery to our injured soldiers.”
The IED is thought to have been laid by the Al-Shabaab militia who have intensified their attacks in Lamu during this festive season.
The latest attacks come barely a week after two more incidents left four dead. Residents of Lamu are living under heightened tension as the Al-Shabaab militia continues to test the security apparatus with fatal results.
Increased attacks
On Sunday, December 25, eight heavily armed suspected Al-Shabaab militia attacked Taa Village near Pandanguo in Witu Division, Lamu West, killing two people and torching a house.
On Thursday, December 29, another faction of the terror group disguised as the Kenyan military and erected an illegal roadblock in Witu area, shot and killed two people before they were engaged by a group of GSU officers who were on their way Mokowe area.
The group is said to have killed a lorry driver and his turn boy.
In early January, 15 people, including four GSU officers were killed and at least 10 houses were torched in suspected Al-Shabaab attacks that rocked Juhudi, Marafa, Salama, Mashogoni, Bobo-Sunkia, Milihoi, and surrounding villages, all in Lamu West Sub-County.
Security Operations
On Tuesday, December 27, Coastal regional commissioner John Elungata said they had deployed more personnel in the area and especially in the expansive Boni Forest to pursue the gunmen operating from there.
Elungata said the government will deploy enough police reservists in areas of Witu and Panda Nguo in a bid to boost security.
He says the police reservists will offer support to the regular security personnel stationed in the region and provide an important first response to incidents of insecurity.
“You have heard your governor while speaking saying the insecurity in the area will end by addressing the land issue so give the governor and the county commissioner support to solve the problem,” said the senior administrator.
Elungata spoke following a multiagency security meeting attended by Regional Police Commander Titus Karuri, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, and Emanuel Tion of KDF troops operating under Operation Amani Boni (OAB), which confirmed the immediate deployment of KDF soldiers in the attack area to bolster security as a temporary measure before a permanent police base was established in the Taa village area.