2 killed in suspected Al-Shabaab attack on Kenya border area

At least two people were killed and some others injured by suspected Al-Shabaab militants who vandalized a communication mast in the northeastern Kenyan county of Wajir.

North Eastern Regional Coordinator Mohamed Saleh confirmed on Saturday night that militants on Friday night destroyed a mast run by mobile operator Safaricom and set a car on fire in the Tarbaj area near the border with Somalia.

The attackers used improvised explosives in the attack, Saleh said, adding that reinforcement had been deployed to the area to pursue the attackers.

This is the third mast to be destroyed by militants in the Kenyan border region in less than a month. Two other masts were destroyed in Mandera county in similar attacks.

Saleh said the authorities had mapped all masts in the border region with an aim of deploying officers to protect them.

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

Al-Shabaab has carried out several deadly attacks in the Kenyan border region this year, mainly targeting non-Muslims and police officers.

source: Xinhua