At least 10 General Service Unit officers were Sunday morning injured when an armoured personnel carrier vehicle they were travelling in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
The IED is suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants at Mlima wa Faru, between Pandanguo and Witu in Lamu County.
Lamu West Deputy County Commissioner Gabriel Kioni confirmed the incident that took place when the more than 10 GSU officers were on their normal patrol within the Pandanguo route which borders the vast Boni forest.
A multi-agency security operation dubbed “Amani Boni” is currently ongoing to flush out Al Shabaab militants believed to be hiding inside the dense Boni Forest.
Kioni said the affected officers are from the Pandanguo GSU camp.
It is fter the incident, when the militants came out of the forest and tried to attack the officers after the vehicle rolled and an exchange of fire ensued for some time.
A team of KDF soldiers and special operation unit arrived for reinforcement and was also ambushed but managed to contain the situation.
The sunday morning attack comes barely few days after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki toured Lamu County on a three-day working tour.
During the visit, he assured the locals of enhanced security amid fears of an impending Al-Shabaab attack which remains a threat in the region.
