14 people were killed and scores of others were wounded by suspected Somali militant group in restive Kenya's northeastern border town of Mandera on Tuesday morning, a senior regional government official has confirmed.
The attackers raided three residential estates on the outskirts of the incursion prone town lying less than a kilometer from the war-torn Somalia at 2am, before they lobbied explosives indiscriminately at their sleeping victims.
Northeastern regional commissioner Mohamud Saleh said 11 of the deceased died on the spot following the raid by the gunmen believed to be affiliates of al-Shabaab terror gangs, while the three others died 5 hours later at Mandera referral hospital while on medication.
He said the attackers were targeting to slain 150 people mainly quarry workers who were living at the ill-feted estate, after they were chased out Koromey quarry site by the government last year over their security concerns following the killing of their colleagues.
"Our security officers have done a commendable job by rescuing 136 people from the hands of the bloodthirsty terror gangs. It is painful to us (the government) to loss a single life of our people to criminals, but the number of the dead could have been bigger were it not for the quick response by our security officers", He said.
Among those killed includes an elderly woman from the local community who was among many other local people who were living in the raided area.
Last week nine people from one of the local Somali community were killed by another group of gunmen who sneaked from the Somali border town of Baled Xawa.
The assailants destroyed metal grilled doors, which has been used to fortify the houses, security precaution measure for many residents in the area before they hurled explosives at the houses and opened fire on the innocent victims.
Those injured were later evacuated by the security officers assisted by medical personnel and taken to Mandera county referral hospital for treatments.
At least 36 quarry workers were killed in November last year after Al-Shabaab militants raided the quarry and killed the workers in a macabre manner as they slept.
Days earlier, another gang hijacked a bus and killed 28 people among them teachers and doctors in a separate attack that sparked protests and led to boycotts by most civil servants.
He added "We believe the assailants are members of al-Shabaab terror group who are operating from sleeper cells in Mandera town",
"The criminals are people who could monitor the movement of our security patrol team with a surgical precision, which can't be a foreigners. The attack happened less than 10 minutes after our officers left the scene", He noted.
Amb Saleh said the security officers who were patrolling on foot and by vehicles quickly responded and confronted the attackers with firepower forcing them to take on their foot and managed to disappear into blinding darkness of the night.
He said the affected area and the neigbouring settlements has been immediately being cordoned off by the security respond team who will conduct house to house search to ensure the assailants do not manage to hide themselves among the people living in the crowded settlement.
The regional commissioner who left this morning (Tuesday) for Mandera to lead the operation to ransack for attackers said alertness of the security agencies in the region has tremendously reduced incursions by Al-Qaeda inspired militia into the country.
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