By Calvin Noche
Five Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers have been killed in ablast, and 10 others are nursing serious injuries after an attack by Alshabab earlier today, Wednesday, 29th, at approximately 8:00AM.
The blast occurred when a truck carrying the soldiers ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along Kiunga-Sankuri road, Lamu County when the soldiers were on a humanitarian civil assignment.
Two military vehicles were involved in the blast, which led to the death of the five and serious injuries to 10 soldiers. One vehicle was a military truck that carried soldiers in the assignment, while the other vehicle was a water bowser that also had the KDF troops.
The soldiers were on a mission to fetch and distribute water to the residents when the unexpected happened. The loud blast caught the attention of the locals, who came to the rescue of the 10 surviving troops
Remains of the lorry that ferried the KDF troops.
According to the KDF Spokesman, Paul Njuguna, “the Alshababis responsible for the Wednesday morning ordeal. This is not the first attack that is linked to the militant group.”
Mr. Njuguna also added that “10 KDF soldiers are receiving medical care from injuries sustained”. He also thanked the locals and requested them to help the KDF soldiers to curb and paralyze the terrorist attacks and operations.
It was previously reported that six more KDF soldiers were killed, and five others sustained serious injuries from a similar attack. The previous IED explosion attack happened at Kwa Omollo Bridge along the Bodheri-Bar’goni road just three weeks before on August 8th of this year.
The militant group Alshabab is constantly attacking Kenya after Former President Mwai Kibaki, deployed KDF troops into Somalia on the open-ended anti-terrorism mission back in 2011. Alshabab has vowed to avenge for their soldiers that were killed by the KDF troops. So far they are succeeding on their revenge mission.
This Alshabab linked attack comes just a few hours afterPresident Uhuru Kenyatta jetted back in the country after his 3-day tour of the US. President Kenyatta met with President Trump to discuss trade and regional security matters.
The two heads of states came to an agreement to tighten defense and security while pushing forward efforts to fights and bring down terrorist attacks and operations. The US president pledged to put his best foot forward and help the Kenya Defense Forces fight the enemy.
President Kenyatta’s US tour is termed historic because it is the first time the two presidents met since Trump took office. The meeting was also meant to bolster the Kenya-US relations. This has grown over the years, and it is expected to be stronger after the two presidents met and agreed.
Uhuru said that Kenya has had a strong and excellent cooperation with the USA in security and defense. More so in the constant fight against terrorism. He also stated that Kenya is looking to boost the trade and investment partnership with the US.
