The first attack on Sunday happened at dawn, in Fafi, Garissa County; suspected al-Shabaab militants rained terror on a camp housing national police reservists at Biyamadhow. When the guns fell silent, six National Police Reservist (NPR) officers had lost their lives, while four were injured. At dusk, kilometres away in Mandera County, the same terror outfit aimed at the residence of the head of the national police reservist in charge of the governor’s office, Abidkar Ibrahim.
Mandera governor Mohamed Aden decried what he termed as a needless murder that could have been avoided if the security agents had acted on intelligence availed to them from as early as last week.“Information was relayed to all security agents as late as yesterday when the officers said they would be attacked by al-Shabaab, and they could not fight them, nothing was done,” Aden said. The killing of the senior NPR officer is the latest in a series of attacks by the militia in the county.
Earlier in the year, five chiefs were abducted by the al-Shabaab. Despite a commitment by President Willia Ruto to secure their release, they are yet to be reunited with their families. Before that, three other young men were taken and returned.
Our security personnel have turned into ambulances for collecting dead bodies after incidences; instead of being proactive and deterring incidents, they have turned into ambulances for picking up bodies and the injured,” added the governor. The Garissa and Mandera incidences come just weeks after the group struck in the Lamu Boni forest. A police signal indicated that on the 15th of this month, about 150 al-Shabaab operatives raided the Mangai village as locals were preparing for evening prayers.
