Two KDF soldiers killed in twin Shabaab attacks in Lamu
KDF officers in operation at Mangai in Boni Forest in Lamu County.Two KDFsoldiers were killed in an operation at Mlima Faru in Lamu on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Two Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers were killed in an operation of the General Service Unit (GSU) team whose vehicle had earlier ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) at Mlima Faru on the Witu-Pandanguo road in Lamu County on Sunday.
Several GSU officers operating under the multi-agency security Operation Amani Boni (OAB), while on patrol in the general areas of Mlima Faru drove over the IED suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants at around 9.30 am.
Confirming the incident to Nation.Africa, the military’s Chief Strategic Communications Brigadier Zipporah Kioko said KDF troops stationed in the area had responded by moving swiftly to secure the area and recover the wounded.
They also enhanced patrols in the area.
“Regrettably, during the recovery operation, two KDF personnel were fatally wounded in a follow-on ambush,” said Brigadier Kioko.
During the earlier GSU attack within Mlima Faru, no fatalities were reported as the officers were travelling in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP).
Following the Sunday incident, more security officers have been deployed within Pandanguo and its environs to search for the attackers.
Mlima Faru has emerged to be a targeted notorious terrorist attack scene in Lamu in recent years.
Apart from the Sunday twin attacks at Mlima Faru, similar terrorist incidents were witnessed in the same place on December 29th and 30th last year where a police officer was injured and a KDF soldier killed with four others injured when their vehicles ran over IEDs respectively.
The Sunday twin attacks also come just a fourth night after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki visited Lamu for a three-day tour to assess the security situation in the region.
During CS Kindiki’s visit to Lamu last week, he assured Lamu residents and Kenyans at large that their safety is guaranteed.
He said the government will do all it can to fight and end the Al-Shabaab menace in the country.
He also took time to condole the over eight security officers who died in a recent Al-Shabaab attack on the Lamu-Garissa border.
