Kenyan police escape explosion attack in border region

Twenty Kenyan police officers on Tuesday narrowly escaped an explosion attack in Mandera region near the border with Somalia.

Mandera County Police Commander, Job Boronjo, said an improvised explosive device (IED) went off after the police vehicle which the officers were travelling in passed it by "barely ten meters".

"The officers from General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unit had accompanied passenger buses and a lorry when the improvised explosive device went off at 9:50 a.m.," Boronjo told journalists in Mandera town.

The IED were planted in the middle of the road. The officers were patrolling the area between Dabacity and Elwak in Mandera region.

Boronjo said there were militants waiting in nearby bush to shoot the officers if the explosion attack succeeded. Police are still combing the area in pursuit of suspects involved in Tuesday's incident.

No group has claimed responsibility but suspicion fell on Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which has staged a series of attacks in Kenya in recent years.

The latest incident comes after the police issued an alert on Tuesday, saying Al-Shabaab was planning to attack public service vehicles, the border region and the coastal city of Mombasa. Endit