3 border policemen killed in al-Shabaab attack in Kenya

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – At least three police officers were killed and five others were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in a Kenyan town bordering Somalia on Friday morning.

Several terrorists were also killed in the ensuing clash between border security police and al-Shahaab terrorists.

Authorities confirmed that border security police were targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED), and that a clash with the terrorists broke out soon after in Mandera county, which shares a porous border with Somalia.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Edward Mbugua told local media that the terrorists from Somalia targeted the police patrol with IED and there was a heavy terrorist casualty in the clash.

"The security operation is still underway," he added.

On May 18, five Kenya Defense Force personnel were killed in an ambush by al-Shabaab terrorists.

These terrorists have long carried out IED attacks in the East African country targeting security officers patrolling the porous Kenya-Somali border.

The terrorists have destroyed over a dozen telecommunication masts in Mandera county and other northern towns in a bid to hamper communication between locals and security personnel.

In a bid to combat IED's and bolster border security Kenya’s Department of Defense cleared the procurement of 118 state-of-the-art military vehicles from Turkey at a price of nearly $70 million.