On 26th March 2017 1545HRS EAT, approximately 27 militants belonging to the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabaab Mujahideen (HSM) were killed by the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) troops at an area between Kiunga and Kolbio, near the Kenya-Somali border.
Several dozen others escaped with injuries after the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) troops conducted an operation targeting the makeshift terrorist camp.
In the operation, the army personnel recovered 4 improvised explosive devices (IED’s), a PKM machine gun, and a dozen AK-47 assault rifles. Similar explosives have been used against army patrol vehicles in recent past.
The Al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabaab Mujahideen (HSM) militants have been laying the improvised explosive devices (IED’s) along military main supply routes (MSR) thus disrupting military and border patrol operations.
The killing of the militants including the IED assembly team is a significant setback and a major blow to the terrorist group. Army troops will scale up patrol and mop up operations along the border with Somalia.