Wednesday March 29, 2017
By Ismail Akwei
The Kenyan government has extended the curfew imposed on Mandera County in the northeastern part of the country for another three months.
The Kenya Police Service announced the extension signed by Interior Minister Joseph Nkaisserry on Thursday which takes effect from March 28 to June 28, 2017.
The curfew was first imposed in October last year, two days after Al Shabaab militants killed 12 people at a hotel in the County’s capital, Mandera.
This is the second extension of the curfew which entreats people to remain indoors between 7:00 pm and 5:00 am in Mandera Town, Omar Jillo, Arabia, Fino, Lafey Kotulo, Elwak and the environs extending to 20km from the Kenya-Somalia border.
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for last year’s attack in Mandera where attackers blew up part of a hotel.
According to Several Kenyan media, some of the victims of Mandera attack belonged to a theatre group which was expected to perform in several schools in the city.
Mandera is on the Somali border and has often been targeted by al Shabaab, which says it will continue its campaign of attacks in Kenya until the Kenyan government withdraws its troops from Somalia.