No injuries were reported after suspected al-Shabaab militants attacked a Safaricom telecommunications mast located within a school compound in Dadaab, Garissa County, in the early hours of Sunday, police said.
The incident occurred at dawn in Abakaile village, near the porous Kenya-Somalia border, leaving teachers and residents shaken.
Police said a joint security team comprising officers from the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Police Reservists (NPR) reached the scene at about 4am after receiving reports of the attack.
Preliminary investigations established that the attackers partially damaged the metallic door of the Safaricom mast situated within the school compound.
There were no immediate reports of explosives being used or significant damage to the telecommunications infrastructure.
Authorities confirmed that all teachers at the school were accounted for and none sustained injuries during the incident.
Security officers secured the area and said a comprehensive search and forensic processing of the scene would be conducted after daybreak to establish the full extent of the damage and collect evidence.
Police have not disclosed the number of attackers or whether the assault disrupted communication services.
The attack comes amid heightened security operations in Garissa and other counties along Kenya’s border with Somalia, where security agencies have intensified efforts to protect critical infrastructure, public institutions and civilians from al-Shabaab attacks.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
The latest attack came just hours after security officers stationed at Arabia Police Station in Mandera County repelled another suspected al-Shabaab assault on Friday night without suffering any casualties.
According to police, about eight suspected militants attacked the police camp in Arabia Sub-County from the south-eastern side, firing rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) before engaging officers with sustained heavy gunfire.
Officers on guard responded immediately and successfully repulsed the attackers. Police later confirmed that all personnel at the camp had been accounted for and that no officer was injured or killed.
Security teams were expected to conduct clearance operations in the area to determine whether the attackers left behind any evidence or suffered casualties during the exchange.
The incidents underscore the persistent security threat posed by al-Shabaab along the Kenya-Somalia border despite intensified counterterrorism operations by Kenyan security agencies.
Kenya deployed the Kenya Defence Forces into Somalia under Operation Linda Nchi on October 14, 2011, following a series of cross-border attacks and kidnappings that threatened the country’s security and tourism sector. The operation was later integrated into the African Union peace support mission in Somalia as part of regional efforts to combat al-Shabaab.
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