At least 60 terrorists involved in Tuesday’s Lamu attack have been killed, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki announced Wednesday.
Kindiki said the 60 attackers were all neutralised by security officers in an operation that ended Wednesday morning.
“All the people who attacked our people yesterday have been neutralised, all of them,” Kindiki told Members of Parliament.
The attackers believed to be members of al Shabaab terror group attacked five vehicles some which were carrying at aleast 200 passengers at the intersection of Lamu and Tana River counties.
The operation, Kindiki noted, was made possible due to the frequent patrols by elite security officers along the Lamu / Garsen road.
“The attackers were very many and we have been able to neutralise all of them,” he said.
Also Read: Hindi MCA Njagaa Attacked by Suspected Terrorists in Lamu
The CS was speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly Education committee over security of non-local teachers in Northern Kenya. It was not possible to verify his claims of killing all the 60 suspects in the attack on the Lamu-Witu-Garsen Highway.
Kindiki said the government will enhance dominance patrols in the Northern Eastern and Upper Coastal regions to detect and neutralise terror attacks targeting civilians, security officers, critical infrastructure, and personnel, among them teachers, road construction engineers and hydrologists.
During Tuesday’s attack, at least two people were killed and 10 others injured in an attack by al Shabaab suspected terrorists at the border of Lamu and Tana River Counties.
At least five vehicles using the route were attacked in the Tuesday attack.
Others were burnt by the terrorists.
Among the vehicles attacked and damaged include that of Hindi Prisons, which was shot at as the driver used the road but managed to escape.
Police who responded to the scene said they found a Toyota Probox parked on the roadside with no occupants but was damaged with bullets.
Also Read: Two Suffer Gunshot Wounds in Robbery by Hooded Men in Migori
Two kilometers away a matatu with seven passengers from Witu was attacked and left four passengers with multiple injuries.
The vehicle overturned as the driver tried to escape prompting the terrorists to burn it.
Another vehicle belonging to Kenya Fisheries department was shot at and its three occupants are missing. The vehicle was found on the roadside, police said.
One body which was partially burnt was found on the roadside.
Another burnt vehicle was found next to the body, which also had gunshot wound.
Police said another vehicle was found near the same area damaged.
A police armored personnel carrier, which was responding to the scene was hit on both sides by an improvised explosive devise deflating one of its tyre.
This slowed down their response to the scene.
On Tuesday, another terror gang targeted a passenger vehicle in Mandera.
One passenger was injured in the attack.
The gang detonated an IED and fired assault weapons targeting a civilian vehicle along the road between Bambo and Jabi-bar injuring a civilian.
This comes days after the same gang killed a police reservist and injured two others in Biyamathowa borehole 20 kilometers outside Dadaab refugee Camp in Garissa County.
The incident happened on July 28, officials said adding more personnel had been sent to pursue the attackers.
On Tuesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said an unknown number of people were missing after the attack on the Lamu-Witu-Garsen Highway at Lango la Simba near the border of Lamu and Tana River counties on Monday evening.
“Security personnel from Nyangoro Forward Operation Base who were conducting clearance patrols along the highway responded rapidly and an engagement with the approximately 60 terrorists ensued, scatting them into he Boni Forest,” said Kindiki.
The area near the border with Somalia has suffered a series of terrorist attacks.
The state has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Salama, Juhudi, Widho Marafa, Mashogoni, and Ukumbi in Lamu West
The terrorists have been attacking places near the Kenyan border by using guns and explosives leaving dozens dead and many injured.
The recent attacks have forced the government to suspend plans to reopen the Kenya-Somalia border.
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