Curious herder injured as he tries to break an explosive device in Mandera 

FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE

A curious herder was injured after an explosive he found at a field in Banisa, Mandera County exploded on him.

He was injured in the abdomen and right leg after the devise went off on March 30, 2026. This was after he hit on a stone.

He told police he had stumbled on the metallic object and carried it in his pocket for a while before, out of curiosity, he sought to know what it was.

It was then that he hit it on a stone on the ground and it went off injuring him.

He was rushed to the hospital and attended to. Officials said he sustained serious injuries but was in a stable condition.

The area has many abandoned explosives and authorities have been urging locals to be cautious not to mishandle those found. The explosives have also left some locals dead and with injuries.

The authorities want the herders to always alert them when they find the explosives for safe picking and disposal.

The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border where al Shabaab terrorists cross to attack and flee back to their country.

Kenya has been making efforts to address the menace by deploying more personnel.

This has led to a drop in the attacks by the terror group in general. Officials link the attacks to instability in Somalia.

Somalia has not had a stable government for more than 30 years which has contributed to the menace at the border with Kenya.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of President Siad Barre’s military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.

Kenya launched Operation Linda Nchi on October 14, 2011, after gunmen seized tourists at the Coast, which the Government saw as a threat to the country’s sovereignty