Militants destroy telecom mast in Kenya border attack

Suspected militants from Somalia-based Al-Shabaab on Monday night destroyed a telecommunication mast in the northeastern Kenyan county of Mandera after a gun fight with police, a local official said.

Mandera County Commissioner, Fredrick Shisia, said Tuesday the attack targeted two adjacent masts belonging to mobile phone firms, Safaricom and Telkom, at the Dabacity area of Elwak town, which is on the Kenya-Somalia border.

Shisia said police had earlier engaged four suspected Al-Shabaab militants near the same place, but were overpowered.

He said the militants later regrouped at night and laid an ambush, overpowering the five Kenya Police Reservists (KPR) deployed to guard the mast.

"The five KPRs guarding the installation tried to resist but the weapons of the attackers were superior, forcing them to run for safety," Shisia said.

Following the attack, a huge explosion was heard, according to residents who spoke to Xinhua. Ahmed Hussein, a Mandera resident said he heard a deafening sound.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the ambush, but suspicion fell on Al-Shabaab, which has launched waves of attacks in Kenya in recent years.

Shisia said security agents have increased patrols to pursue the attackers and protect civilians in the region.

"We have enough security agents in the area and road users can go on with their business without fear of being attacked," he said.

Dabacity has become a terror hotspot, recording about four incidents in less than one month. The attackers have upscaled attacks on communication gadgets to disrupt police operations and coordination.

Al-Shabaab militants have staged a series of attacks mainly targeting non-Muslims in the border region, leaving more than 60 people dead in separate incidents in the past two years. Endit