Al Shabaab Attack Could Be A Revenge Mission, Says Kenyan Official

Al Shabaab Attack Could Be A Revenge Mission, Says Kenyan Official

The Fino attack in Mandera county where four AP police officers and police reservists were killed by al Shabaab militants could have been a revenge mission, regional county commissioner Mohamud Saleh has said.

During the Friday 2 am incident, about 50 heavily armed militants attacked the two camps on the border town of Fino, Lafey sub-county, before retreating to Somalia, five kilometers away.

Those killed include four APs and a national police reservist. The confrontation lasted three hours.

One AP officer, a national police reservist, and local sustained minor injuries.

A Safaricom mast was destroyed when the militants threw a hand grenade at it to interrupt communication.

Saleh said 40 al Shabaab militants and two of their senior commanders were killed on Tuesday during a KDF and Amisom operation in Fafadun, Gedo region, Somalia.

Troops ran over the militants’ camp. “We suspect these ragtag militants were on a revenge mission following the heavy casualties they suffered at the hands of our troops,” Saleh said.

“We have accounted for all our officers at the two camps of AP and regular police. We are pursuing the militants, some of whom sustained injuries following the heavy exchange of gunfire.”

Saleh said the militants do not deserve free publicity because “that is what they yearn”.