Suspected al-Shabaab ambush kills eight in northeastern Kenya, police say
NAIROBI — Eight people died Tuesday after suspected al-Shabaab militants ambushed a vehicle carrying construction workers and police officers near Kenya’s border with Somalia, authorities said.
The dead were identified as five construction workers, two police reservists and the vehicle’s driver, according to police and a senior regional administrative official.
“The team was traveling to a project site when they were ambushed by suspected al-Shabaab fighters,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity. “Eight people lost their lives in the attack.”
The assault took place in Mandera County, along the porous Somali border, a region repeatedly hit by the Al-Qaeda-linked extremist organization.
Al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency against Somalia’s central government for more than 15 years, carrying out repeated cross-border attacks in Kenya.
The group has targeted Kenyan security forces, infrastructure and civilians while calling for the withdrawal of Kenyan troops deployed in Somalia with an African Union peacekeeping force.
Security forces have begun searching the area for those responsible for the attack.
