Three police officers were injured on Friday night after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a Special Operations Group (SOG) camp in Fino, located in Lafey Sub-County, Mandera County.
According to preliminary reports, the attackers launched an assault on the camp using Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and PKM machine guns. However, officers at the camp responded quickly and managed to repel the attack.
The firefight between the SOG officers and the militants lasted about 25 minutes before the attackers were forced to retreat. The three injured officers were immediately taken for treatment, and security agencies have since launched a major operation to hunt down the assailants.
This is not the first time Fino has experienced such an attack. The area lies close to the Kenya-Somalia border, and because of that proximity, it has previously been targeted by Al-Shabaab militants. Mandera County as a whole has faced a series of security breaches and attempted attacks by the Somalia-based group.
Just a few days earlier, on Wednesday, police officers in Mandera foiled another attempted attack. In that incident, about 10 heavily armed militants approached the Jabi Quick Response Unit (QRU) Camp in Lafey Sub-County shortly after 7pm. The attackers opened fire from about 600 metres away, apparently trying to test the camp’s defenses. Fortunately, officers successfully repelled that assault as well, and the militants were unable to breach the installation.
The Special Operations Group is an elite multi-agency counter-terrorism unit that operates under the Border Patrol Unit (BPU). They work closely with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to secure Kenya’s borders and respond to high-risk security threats. Authorities have now deployed additional security personnel to the area as operations to track down the attackers continue.
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