The bus that was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants at Nyongoro on the Lamu-Mombasa road on January 2, 2020. COURTESY PHOTO
Kenyan
soldiers on Thursday killed four suspected Al-Shabaab fighters and
captured one after a bus attack in Lamu County located in the Northern
Coast of Kenya.
Coast Regional
Coordinator John Elungata gave this report just hours after the ambush
in Nyongoro, a notorious place for Al-Shabaab attacks targeted at
passenger vehicles and security agencies.
Three
people were killed while three others seriously injured when suspected
Al-Shabaab militants attacked a bus headed to Lamu from Mombasa on
Thursday.
The terrorists are said to
have tried to forcefully stop the bus but the driver sped off, forcing
them to spray the bus with bullets. County Commissioner Irungu Macharia
said the identity of those killed and injured is yet to be established.
PURSUE ATTACKERS
Security teams were deployed to Nyongoro and the surrounding areas to pursue the attackers.
Transport on the Lamu-Garsen road was
disrupted after buses heading to Mombasa from Lamu and vice versa were
directed to return to Witu Police Station.
Daily Nation also
established that an unspecified number of passengers in the bus jumped
out of the windows and fled to nearby bushes after realising that their
vehicle was under attack.
Another passenger identified as Omar Yusuf told Daily Nation that the number of casualties is expected to be higher.
“The
bus had more than 40 passengers and was sprayed randomly with bullets.
It’s unfortunate that the number of deaths and injuries might be
higher,” said Mr Yusuf.
Incidents of
suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacking passenger vehicles and security
agencies are not new on the Lamu-Mombasa route.
On
January 13, 2018, a woman was killed and five police officers injured
when a group of heavily armed militants attacked two Administration
Police vehicles at Nyongoro area.
The
police were escorting a convoy of over five passenger buses from Lamu
to Mombasa when the incident occurred. The two police vehicles were
burnt to ashes.
On July 26, 2018, a
police officer was killed and two others injured when their Land Cruiser
ran over an improvised explosive device before heavily armed militants
shot at the vehicle.
FERRIED PRISONERS
The
vehicle had ferried prisoners to Hindi G-K Prison and was returning to
Mpeketoni Police Station when it was attacked at Milihoi area, another
notorious place for Al-Shabaab attacks and ambushes.
On
July 19, 2014, seven people including four administration police
officers were killed by Al-Shabaab militants, who ambushed a bus en
route to Lamu from Mombasa at Mambo Sasa Forest in Witu.
The bus was sprayed with bullets by the militants, who were hiding in the nearby bushes.
As
a result, the government imposed a ban on night travel among passenger
vehicles plying the Lamu-Mombasa route, a directive which exists up to
date.
Buses are also required to travel in a convoy escorted by security agencies. Roadblocks were also mounted on the route.
INCREASED ATTACKS
Passengers
plying the route are also required to alight at each of the roadblocks
for frisking and police checks in a move aimed at containing security on
the road.
The then increased attacks
and ambushes to passenger and security vehicles on the Lamu-Garsen
route also prompted the government in 2018 to set up GSU camps,
particularly in all the renowned hotspot areas for Al-Shabaab attacks.
The camps were set up in Milihoi, Nyongoro, Mambo Sasa and Lango la
Simba.
Thursday’s attack comes at a
time when the government is conducting a multi-agency security operation
dubbed ‘Linda Boni’ in counties bordering the Kenya-Somalia border
including Lamu, Garissa and Tana River.
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