Al-Shabaab's IED base destroyed by KDF in Kenya

Recovered items after four al Shabaab terror suspects were killed by police in a dusk raid in Garissa county on September 12, 2023 Image: HANDOUT

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Multi-agency security teams led by the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] destroyed a suspected Al-Shabaab Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] base in Northeastern Kenya, security forces reported, in the middle of the ongoing surveillance along the porous Kenya-Somalia border.

Acting on intelligence from locals, the multi-agency security forces raided the base on Tuesday along Harbole-Fafi route in Garissa County, before destroying it completely. The base was used in assembling IEDs which are used by the Al-Shabaab across the expansive arid region.

The team displayed equipment used to make the explosives that are commonly used in attacks targeting security forces and innocent civilians. The Al-Shabaab has intensified attacks in Northeastern Kenya and Lamu, prompting emergency responses by the Kenya Defense Forces teams.

The team killed 4 Al-Shabaab members while some escaped with injuries and recovered IED-making materials, ammunition, and medicines, photos displayed showed. The militants use medicines to treat those who are critically injured while fighting with security forces.

Al-Shabaab has been targeting Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu counties in their cowardly attacks but the KDF has intensified surveillance along the Kenya-Somalia border in recent weeks. At Lamu, security teams have been dispatched to pursue the militants in the dense Boni Forest.

It is along Boni Forest where KDF and multi-agency security teams have suffered immense losses in recent weeks, including last week's explosion which targeted KDF personnel on duty. At least 14 KDF soldiers were critically injured when an IED targeted their vehicle, the military said.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki visited Lamu where he held various meetings with security agencies who are taking part in the operation against Al-Shabaab. The Al-Shabaab militants are under pressure in Somalia, forcing a number of them to try and shift base to Kenya.

GAROWE ONLINE