No injuries as IED explodes near Horn of Africa Gateway Project site in Mandera

A suspected improvised explosive device (IED) exploded along the Elwak–Eresuki road in Mandera County in what authorities believe was a failed attempt to target security personnel.

The targeted officials were guarding a government infrastructure project.

According to police, the incident occurred Thursday May 7 morning near a borrow pit where marram is being extracted for the Horn of Africa Gateway Project.

A joint patrol team comprising officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service (NPS) visited the scene and established that a directional IED had detonated along the road.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the explosive device was likely intended to target movements of security agencies assigned to guard the strategic project site.

No injuries or fatalities were reported during the incident.

Security operations in the area have since been intensified as investigations continue into those behind the attack.

The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border which is usually breached by al Shabaab terrorists for attacks.

Kenya has mounted operations to address the menace which has curtailed development in the area at large.

This has led to deployment of more personnel and technology in the region to address the menace.

The terrorists usually set up explosives on the roads and leave dozens of Kenyans dead and property destroyed.

Somalia has not had a stable government for decades which has created room for the terror group to operate and cross into Kenya for attacks.

Security agents have mounted operations in the area in an effort to contain the terror-related attacks.

Officials say this has led to the reduction of such incidents in general.

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, as it targeted the nation’s economic lifeline, which is tourism.

Several regions have since been liberated from the terrorists.