On 26th July 2018, Police in Kenya preempted a large scale terrorist attack targeting over 270 travelers along the Lamu-Garsen road, intelligence reports confirm. The Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia Al-Shabaab conducted an ambush targeting a convoy of passenger transport vehicles. The attacks took place during the peak of Kenya’s cold season and in one of the most important counter-terrorism operations zone in the country. No one was killed though the militants successfully destroyed a police personnel transport vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser. 
The location of the attack, the popular Lamu-Garsen Road, suggests that the attackers sought a high number of causalities particularly male Christians and their siblings besides the police officers. An estimated 270 persons were using the route at the time. The militants blockaded the vehicles with intent to open fire and execute the travelers. Police escorting the convoy successfully foiled the attack despite losing the logistics vehicle.
Strategic Intelligence reports on the latest attack by Al-Shabaab in East Africa show a gradual and steady increase in attacks in the Lower North Eastern Prefecture as reported in our recent Threat Intelligence Report . It’s a drumbeat of terror, slowly increasing, rooted in regions large and rapidly growing Islamic population. So far the North Eastern Prefecture and Operation Linda Boni security plans have responded well to the persistent threat with traditional police and security measures.
