3 die as Al-Shabaab targets Mandera border wall workers

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Three people have been killed and one seriously injured after their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device in Mandera.

Mandera South Deputy County Commissioner Paul Kemei said the 10 am incident targeted a team clearing a road on the Kenya-Somalia border.

The team was headed to their workstation when the device exploded.

“The victims have been clearing a road along the security wall and they were hit by what we suspect to be an improvised explosive device,” Mr Kemei said.

POLICE ESCORT

Mr Kemei said the explosive must have been planted early in the morning by suspected Al-Shabaab militants.

Usually, the team is escorted to the site but Mr Kemei said security officers did not accompany them on Monday.

“All teams working on the security wall have security provided but it remains unclear how this team went on site without security officers,” he said.

He said the investigation is underway to establish why the contractor and his team went to the site unaccompanied.

Since 2015 when the national government announced the plan to build a security wall along the Kenya-Somalia border, several terror incidents by suspected Al-Shabaab militant have been reported.

The wall was to wade off militants according to government plan but the progress has been slow.