At least four police officers were Thursday killed in an ambush by al Shabaab terrorists in Guba area, Elwak, Mandera County.
Police said five al Shabaab terrorists were killed in the clash that happened on Thursday July 11 evening as a team from Special Operations Group (SOG) pursued suspected terrorists who had been sighted in the area.
Five other police officers who were missing were found alive but with serious injuries.
The killing of the officers from SOG was described as a blow and devastating.
The officers were trailing gunmen in the area when they were ambushed at about 6 pm on Thursday.
They hit back and killed five of the attackers.
The team recovered assorted weapons from the suspects in the clash as others escaped with injuries.
SOG is an elite team involved in the hunt against terrorists at the Kenya-Somalia border.
The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border, which is usually breached by the terror group who come and attack in the region and escape back.
Police said the SOG team had trailed the terrorists for hours before an ambush happened.
The other members put up a fight that lasted hours to the night.
A chopper was later dispatched to the area to pick up the injured, police said.
The police operations in the area have thwarted planned attacks in Kenya.
More personnel have been deployed in the area in efforts to tame the attacks. Locals have always been urged to work with security agencies to tame the trend.
This is because such attacks cannot happen without the knowledge of the locals. This comes amid heightened security following fears the terror group could be planning an attack after a long lull.
The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.
Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991. The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and stage attacks before escaping back.
Al-Shabaab terrorists have been attacking places in the region, especially in Mandera and Garissa counties after breaching security zones, which left dozens of civilians and security officials dead and wounded.
The terrorists have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies. Kenyan troops are in Somalia to pursue and suppress the activities of the terror group.
But the terrorists keep crossing to Kenya for attacks.
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