Blast kills two Kenyan soldiers, injure 3 others near border town

GARISSA, Kenya, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two Kenyan soldiers died and three others sustained injuries when a vehicle they were traveling in was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) near the border with Somalia on Saturday.

Mohamed Saleh, the North Eastern Regional Coordinator, confirmed the incident on Sunday, saying the explosive device was set up by Al-Shabaab militants in northeastern Kenyan county of Garissa which shares a border with Somalia.

Saleh revealed that a response team has already been dispatched to the region to hunt for the militants though none has been arrested so far.

"We have mounted operations in the area in a bid to get those behind the attack," Saleh told journalists in Garissa, noting that the bodies of the dead together with the injured victims had been airlifted to Nairobi.

The regional administrator told reporters the hunt for the Al-Shabaab militants had intensified and it is hoped they will be nabbed by an elite team of security personnel.

The Kenyan security personnel patrolling the Somalia border have been hit with a series of explosion attacks since Kenya sent its troops to fight Al-Shabaab inside Somalia in 2011.

The latest attack is the second to happen in the region in the month of January. Early this month, the terror gang destroyed at least five communication masts crippling communication in the region.

Kenya Defence Forces, which is part of African Union troops in Somalia, has started withdrawing from the country as part of plans to leave some operations to Somali troops. Enditem