Gunmen have
shot and killed five people, including two police officers guarding a
commercial bank, in northeast Kenya's on Friday.
Also killed
in the morning attack in Elwak are three civilians, the Mandera South police
chief Charles Chacha said.
Mr Chacha
said the unknown attackers arrived at the bank in a Toyota Probox and opened
fire, shooting indiscriminately.
Mandera
County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia confirmed the 9.30am incident.
“A Toyota
Probox without a number plate approached Equity Bank and the occupants started
spraying the bank premises with bullets,” he said.
Mr Shisia
said “a good number of civilians” around the bank were injured in the incident
but he was yet to confirm the exact figure.
“The Probox
sped off towards Elwak, Somalia, and our officers are pursuing it with the
assistance of friendly forces in Somalia,” he said.
10km apart
The two Elwak
border towns are 10 kilometres apart with people frequently crossing the
Kenya-Somalia border.
“We are
trying our best to intercept the vehicle with the help of Somalia forces but
the motive of the attack is not known,” he said.
According to
Mr Shisia, the increase in terror incidents in Mandera could be due to killing
of two top commanders of Al-Shabaab from Elwak town.
“We have
unconfirmed reports that these incidents are due to killing of their commanders
in two different incidents by our security officers,” he said.
IED attack
In a
separate incident, a vehicle in Qurqura, Mandera County, narrowly missed to hit
roadside bomb.
The Toyata
Hilux was heading to Mandera from Elwak and the improvised explosive devise
went off just before the vehicle ran over it at 8.30am.
Mr Shisia
said the IED smashed the windows of the vehicle and the driver drove to Lafey
Police Station where he reported the incident.
“We want
those using that road to be careful and report any suspicious activity to
security agents and avoid places with disturbance,” he said.
Mr Shisia
said the new phenomena of attacking civilian vehicles was being investigated.
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