KDF soldier injured in suspected Shabaab attack in Lamu
KDF soldiers on patrol on Lamu. A soldier was on October 12, 2021 seriously injured after the vehicle he was traveling in ran over an IED suspected to have been planted by Al-Shabaab terrorists.
A Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldier was Tuesday seriously injured when the vehicle he was traveling in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab terrorists between Milimani and Baure in Lamu County.
In a statement to newsrooms, KDF Spokesperson Col Esther Wanjiku stated that the attack happened around 9am.
Baure and Milimani are within the dense Boni Forest where the national government in September 2015 launched a multi-agency Operation Linda Boni, whose key objective is to flush out Al-Shabaab militants believed to be hiding inside the forest.
The operation, which was recently renamed Operation Amani Boni (OAB), is still ongoing.
Col Wanjiku said the injured soldier was part of a team under OAB that was on a routine patrol when the device exploded.
Evacuated to Nairobi
“KDF soldiers operating under Operation Amani Boni while on routine patrol between Milimani and Baure in Lamu County encountered an IED attack orchestrated by suspected Al-Shabaab terrorists. During the attack, one KDF soldier was seriously injured and has been evacuated to Nairobi's Defence Forces Memorial Hospital for further medical treatment,” she stated.
She further stated that despite the Tuesday incident, the KDF will continue to assist and cooperate with other authorities in parts of Lamu and Garissa counties to restore peace and security and reduce the threat posed by Al-Shabaab terrorists.
The attack comes just two weeks after at least 15 members of the terrorist group were killed when their vehicle ran over an IED between Sarira and Ras Kiamboni near Ishakani on the border of Lamu and Somalia.
The IED was suspected to have been planted by another group of Al-Shabaab that was in front only for the latter to run over it unknowingly.
The incident happened on September 26.
Al-Shabaab terrorists have for years been carrying out IED attacks in Kenya targeting security officers patrolling key routes on the porous Kenya-Somali border.
But the launch of the ongoing multi-agency security operation in Boni Forest eight years ago has in recent years seen a great reduction in the number of terrorist attacks being carried out in Lamu and the neighbouring counties of Garissa and Tana River, all of which border Somalia.
