Saturday July 29, 2017
Al Shabaab hijacked a vehicle belonging to a Jubilee campaign team in Mandera on Saturday, forcing negotiations with Somalia elders.
Mandera South OCPD Charles Chacha said the driver was on his way back to Bore Hole 11 town after dropping supporters at Falama area when the fighters ambushed them.
Chacha said the terrorists stopped the vehicle and ordered the four people who were inside to get out.
"The men got out of the car and the militia sped off with the vehicle," he said, noting nobody was injured.
The OCPD said the Jubilee-branded vehicle belonged to a former civic leader in the area.
“The issue has been taken over by our military inside Somalia where negotiations are ongoing," he said.
"We want to get to the root of this problem," he added, saying the were questioning the four people. "We are interrogating them to know what the militia told them and some other issues."
Al Shabaab, which is fighting to overthrow the Somali government, has launched a series of deadly incursions in Kenya.
Last month, more than eight police officers were killed in separate bomb attacks in Garissa and Mandera counties.
Five officers in Governor Ali Roba’s convoy were killed when their Land Cruiser ran over an improvised explosive device between Arabia and Lafey in Mandera.
In Garissa, three AP officers were killed and five others injured when their vehicle ran over an IED on the Kulan-Liboi road, seven kilometres from Kulan, Garissa county.
Al Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The militants have also carried out several attacks in Lamu, forcing security chiefs to restrategise and look into permanent solutions.
The militants and linked to al Qaeda and are based in Somalia. They also have bases inside Boni Forest in the county.