Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters ambush Ambulance ferrying bodies of police in Mandera

Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters waylaid an ambulance ferrying five bodies of police officers who were killed by Al-Shabaab fighters in a border region in north-eastern Kenya, local residents said.

Al-Shabaab killed the five police officers in Mandera county on Monday, the latest deadly incursion aimed at punishing Kenya for sending troops to Somalia.

A local resident in Kutulo town who spoke on condition of anonymity said the ambulance which was carrying the bodies of police officers was ambushed and was sprayed with bullets in an area not far away from where the police officers were killed.

It is unclear the casualties of the bush.

Northeastern regional coordinator, Mohamed Salah Saeed said the attackers of the police officers escaped soon after the incident took place.

He said the officers were escorting a bus when the incident took place near Elwak town.

The passengers in the bus were not affected by the incident.

Shabaab said their fighters were behind the attack that claimed the lives of the police officers.

The group’s military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told reporters that four officers were also wounded and a vehicle in their convoy was burned in the ambush by its fighters.

The group has previously said it would continue attacks until Kenya withdraws troops from an African Union force fighting the militants in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab has targeted the Mandera county  in the past.