Wednesday July 9, 2025
NAIROBI, Kenya (HOL) — A roadside bomb wounded seven Kenyan police officers Wednesday when their patrol truck hit an improvised explosive device on the dusty Aresa–Khalalio track east of Mandera town near the Somali border, authorities said.
The blast tore through the truck’s rear axle around 10 a.m. local time, spraying shrapnel and forcing the driver to halt, according to a statement from the National Police Service. Medics evacuated the officers — all from the Administration Police Service — to Mandera County Referral Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition.
Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based al-Qaida affiliate, claimed responsibility through a brief communique on its Shahada News Agency. The group has escalated bombings and ambushes across Kenya’s northeastern frontier this year, striking convoys, road crews and cell-tower sites along lightly guarded secondary roads.
Security officials say the militants exploit the region’s rugged terrain and sparse checkpoints to slip explosives across the porous border. Despite recent reinforcements, residents report that patrols remain thin on outlying routes such as Aresa–Khalalio, enabling attackers to plant devices undetected.
Kenya first sent troops into Somalia in 2011 and later joined the African Union peacekeeping force now called ATMIS. Al-Shabab cites that deployment when launching assaults inside Kenya, including the 2015 Garissa University massacre, the 2019 Nairobi hotel siege and a string of roadside bombs in Mandera County over the past six months.
Police urged local communities to report suspicious activity, saying tip-offs have already foiled several planned attacks this year.
