Four al-Shabaab terrorists shot dead, three rifles recovered from them in Garissa 

Four men suspected to be al-Shabaab terrorists were Monday mowed down by police bullets in a clash in Najo and Guracho areas of Garissa County.

The clash happened after the team from Kenya’s elite Special Operations Group (SOG) trailed them for a distance.

The success followed a meticulously planned intelligence-led operation, police said.

The militants were first spotted by a surveillance drone, after which the units tracked and engaged them.

A fierce exchange of fire ensued, resulting in four terrorists being killed.

Recovered at the scene were two AK-47 rifles, a PKM machine gun, multiple rounds of ammunition, and communication radios.

Police said the development marks yet another major victory in a series of well-coordinated operations that continue to cripple al-Shabaab activity.

The area is seen as a breeding ground for the terror activities in the region.

The gang crosses from Somalia through the porous border before launching attacks that have crippled operations in much of urban areas in the region.

Kenya has reacted by among others deploying more personnel and deploying technology in the area to tame the threat and attacks.

Local sympathizers have been blamed for the attacks in the region which have always targeted security personnel and civil servants including teachers.

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 as it targeted the nation’s economic lifeline-Tourism.

Kenya’s incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnapping of two Spanish women, who were working for MSF at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The abductions were carried out by the militants who the troops said planned to push away under the Operation Linda Nchi.

Two years later, the troops managed to take control of Kismayo port under Operation Sledge Hammer.

The troops have liberated many regions near Kenyan porous border.

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.