NAIROBI: At least 14 people were killed Tuesday by suspected Al Shabaab militants in a north-eastern border town of Mandera, a Government official has confirmed.
Scores of others were injured during the dawn attack on three residential estates on the outskirts of the incursion-prone town lying less than a kilometre from the war-torn Somalia.
The attackers lobbed explosives and fired indiscriminately at the targeted settlement. North-Eastern Regional Commissioner Mohamud Saleh, who spoke to the media in Garissa, said 11 people died on the spot while three others died five hours later at Mandera Referral Hospital.
Mr Saleh said the attackers were targeting 150 people, mainly quarry workers, who were living at the estate after they were chased out of a quarry site by the Government last year over security concerns following the killing of their colleagues.
"Our security officers have done a commendable job by rescuing 136 people from the hands of the bloodthirsty terror gangs. It is painful to us (the Government) to lose lives to criminals, but our security agencies have managed to minimise the death toll because of their quick response," he said.
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It emerged that six of the murdered quarry workers are from Gathaithi village in Kieni, Nyeri County. Also among those killed is an elderly woman from the local community.
"It is another sad day for us. An unknown number of heavily armed gunmen has raided with improvised explosive devices a residential estate at Soko Ngamia area, two kilometres west of Mandera town and killed 14 Kenyans," said Saleh.
The assailants destroyed metal-grilled doors, which have become a security precaution measure for many residents in the area, before they hurled explosives at the houses and opened fire on the innocent victims.
Those injured were later evacuated by the security officers assisted by medical personnel and taken to Mandera Referral Hospital for treatment.
"We believe the assailants are members of Al Shabaab terror group, who are operating from sleeper cells in Mandera town. These were criminals who monitored the movement of our security patrol team since they attacked the area shortly after our patrol team passed the area," added saleh.
The official said the security officers who were patrolling on foot and by vehicles quickly responded and confronted the attackers with firepower, forcing them to escape on foot. They took advantage of the darkness to disappear.
He said the affected area and the neighbouring settlements have been immediately cordoned off by the security respond team who will conduct house to house search to ensure the assailants do not manage to hide themselves among the people living in the crowded settlement.
PAKISTANI FOREIGNERS
Saleh, who left Tuesday morning for Mandera to lead the search operation for the attackers said alertness of the security agencies in the region has tremendously reduced incursions by Al-Qaeda inspired militia into the country.
Last week, nine people from the Somali community were killed by another group of gunmen who sneaked from the Somali border town of Baled Xawa.
At least 36 quarry workers were killed in November last year after Al Shabaab militants raided the quarry and killed the workers as they slept. Days earlier, another gang hijacked a bus and killed 28 people among them teachers and doctors in a separate attack that sparked protests and led to boycotts by most civil servants.
Meanwhile, 11 people of Pakistani origin were arrested in Mandera town on Monday evening by the security agencies.
Confirming the arrests, the regional commissioner said the foreigners were taken to Mandera Police Station, where they are being investigated by a criminal investigation team.
"The foreigners were nabbed within Mandera town and they are claiming to be in the country on a religious mission (Tabliq). We want to verify whether they are here legally by scrutinising their travel documents and establishing how they came into the country and when," he added.
It is a common practice among the Muslim community to traverse countries and regions mostly during the Islamic Holy month of Ramadhan to spread the message of their religion among their Muslim Ummah (community).
