Several GSU Officers Injured in Suspected al-Shabaab Attack in Lamu

An armoured personnel carrier (APC) on Sunday morning ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants at Mlima wa Faru, situated between Pandanguo and Witu in Lamu County. 

The Deputy County Commissioner Mr Gabriel Kioni has confirmed the Sunday 9:30 am incident. He, however, assured that no fatalities occurred in the ambush, but several officers were injured. Around 10 GSU personnel were in their usual patrol on the Pandanguo path, which is located close to the huge Boni woodland, where the multi-agency security Operation Amani Boni (OAB) is taking place. 

The initiative initially known as Operation Linda Boni, was set up in September 2015 with the aim of flushing out Al-Shabaab combatants suspected to be hiding in the thick Boni Forest. Mlima wa Faru where the GSU personnel were attacked on Sunday is the same region where a KDF soldier died and four others were injured on December 30, 2022.

The KDF troops were on patrol when their vehicle set off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) believed to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants. A day before the KDF troops attack at Mlima wa Faru on December 30, 2022, a police patrol vehicle ran over an IED within the same place, leaving an officer injured in the explosion. The Sunday GSU attack happened four nights after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki visited Lamu for a three-day visit to assess the security situation in the region. He gave assurance to Lamu residents and Kenyans in general that their safety is guaranteed.

The CS said that the government has made a commitment to combat and eliminate the Al-Shabaab threat in the nation. Kindiki also sent his condolences to the families of the eight security personnel who lost their lives in a recent Al-Shabaab attack on the Lamu-Garissa border. He further praised the security forces involved in Operation Amani Boni for their work in restoring security and peace in Lamu.