Al-Shabaab kills four non-locals in Garissa

GARISSA, Kenya - The Al-Shabaab militants struct for the first time in as many months in northern Kenya, killing four construction workers at a site in Garissa, police reports indicate, with four others managing to escape without injuries.

The four were fatally shot at a hospital construction site near the Dadaab refugee camp, police said. Those killed were non-locals working on the construction site, and are believed to have been targeted by the militants, officials said.

A group of eight workers were resting Friday when they were attacked, leaving four shot dead at close range, a police official who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue told The Associated Press. The other four workers escaped unharmed, the official said.

Although the border has remained porous for some time, cases of insecurity have tremendously reduced after Kenya dispatched more officers from the elite Special Forces and those from the Rapid Deployment Unit in northeastern Kenya.

Police believe the militants have started targeting people believed to be non-locals as they are considered a soft target in the region. However, in Somalia, Al-Shabaab targets even fellow Muslims.

On Wednesday, police at the Mandera border point recovered an improvised explosive device that was about to detonate. Last week, two herders were killed at a watering point, also in the Mandera area, by gunmen. In April, five people were killed in a donkey cart explosion in Elwak town.

Kenya is part of the countries that have provided soldiers to neighboring Somalia for peacekeeping missions. In return, Al-Shabaab has often sneaked into the country for 'revenge', accusing the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) of targeting their members in the country.

GAROWE ONLINE