Approximately 7 Kenya security officers were injured when their patrol vehicle was ambushed by gunmen fighting for the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab Mujahideen, Wednesday, 4th July 2018 in Ijara Sub-County, in Garissa, lower NEP. The incident came a day after a remote controlled improvised explosive device RCIED, destroyed an army infantry fighting vehicle in Lafey further north in NEP area.
The attacks and their sequence were detected, mapped, and reported by S.I Threat Intelligence and profiled as risks for the June – September duration.
The terrorist group issued a statement claiming to have conducted an attack targeting Kenyan security personnel in Lamu. There’s no official confirmation from Kenyan authorities. However the militants demonstrated lack of knowledge about Kenyan geography by reporting that the contact with security personnel on regular patrol took place in Lamu while it was in Garissa County, middle NEP.
There’s an increase in attacks targeting Kenyan security personnel patrolling and securing the border with Somalia by the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia. The attack in Ijara is the second and comes a day after another. The attack varied from the previous one. The gunmen ambushed the patrol team whereas the Lafey incident involved detonation of an IED targeting an arm infantry team on patrol mission.
Shabaab is targeting both police and army personnel, but it is important to note when they target army and special police units, they prefer using remote controlled improvised explosives and assault rifles when confronting regular police units. Another take is the ability of the militants to have prior information about movement, number of troops, and routes the security teams will take and laying the ambushes. It’s an indicator they have surveillance and reconnaissance cells that provide actual intelligence about Kenyan security teams.
