Five injured in afternoon Mandera attack

Five civilians are nursing serious injuries following an explosion that occurred at a hotel in Mandera County early Wednesday afternoon.

Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif confirmed that the five victims suffered serious injuries and condemned the attack, describing it as heinous.

"We must remain united as we take the necessary measures to fight terror outfits, whose aim is to create fear and division amongst our peace-loving community in Mandera County. I urge wananchi to remain vigilant and share information that may aid the relevant security agencies as they pursue the criminals behind this senseless attack," he added, and also wished the victims a quick recovery.

According to the police, the attack occurred after a suspect placed a bag against a wall outside the hotel frequented by non-locals, and left, raising suspicion among the workers.

The suspect, according to the hotel workers, had been spotted holding the bag before leaving it unattended, forcing one of the hotel staff to inspect it with the help of others.

Upon establishing the contents of the bag, they called in for help from the local police, but the explosive exploded before the officers could arrive to detonate it. 

The injured persons were rushed to Mandera Referral Hospital for treatment.

The attack happened nearly two weeks after a multi-agency team killed four Al-Shabaab members and recovered a cache of weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), four RPG warheads, a PKM machine gun, three AK 47s, seven AK 47 magazines, five pistols each with a magazine, and five mobile phones.

"The security team, manning the Kenya-Somalia border, smoked out the terrorists from a hideout in Banisa Sub County following an intelligence-led operation," Counter Terrorism Policing Ke said.

The suspect, on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, injured four people after leaving a with explosives outside a hotel in Mandera. (Photo: Handout)

Mandera county has experienced several attacks this year, raising questions about threat surveillance and response. 

In April this year, a donkey-borne improvised explosive device (IED) that was placed outside an administration police camp in Elwak, Madera County, claimed 12 lives and left others injured.

In yet another incident that occurred in January, a donkey cart was used to ferry an IED at the Kenya-Somalia border, close to where Kenyan police officers were on duty.

The cart left Bula Hawa, Somalia, without detonating on the local security officers manning the border, crossed the no man's land, and entered Kenya's side, where it was intentionally diverted from the main road to where some Kenyan officers were sheltering themselves from the sun before exploding. One officer died, and four others sustained critical injuries. 

"We believe they (attackers) were targeting our officers because the cart and its guide passed their (Somalia) checkpoint without detonating it, only to do so after the rider diverted to where our officers were sitting under a shade and jumped off the cart," Mandera County Commissioner Amos Mariba said at the time.

The latest report on trends of violent extremist attacks and arrests in Kenya covering the period between January and December last year shows that security agencies managed to foil multiple attacks in the year, leading to a decline in incidences.

"Reports have pointed to numerous foiled terror attacks by security officials. Attacks decreased by 6.5 per cent, from 77 per cent in 2022 to 72 per cent reported in 2023. June recorded the highest number of attacks at 19, with at least 58 fatalities and 58 people injured," the report shows.

"151 people were injured; security officials at 93, civilians at 45, and Al-Shabaab militants at 10. Three people were kidnapped: 2 in Lamu and one in Garissa," the report adds.

59 people were arrested for terror-related offences: 46 men, 8 women, and 5 individuals whose gender was not specified.

The nationalities of those arrested were 16 Kenyans, 10 Tanzanians, three Somali citizens, 1 Ugandan, and 29 were undisclosed.