MOGADISHU, SOMALIA, 18 JUNE 2018 – Eight Kenyan police officers were killed Sunday after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group.
Police spokesperson, Charles Owino, is cited by Reuters as saying three reservists were killed “while protecting our borders and security of the country.”
Kenya’s military operations spokesperson, Abdiasis Abu Musah, said al Shabaab killed 10 Kenyan soldiers in the attack.
Al Shabaab militants frequently attack neighboring Kenya as part of a campaign aimed at pressurizing the east African country from withdrawing its troops from African Union peackeepers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab seeks to topple Somalia’s government and to establish a government of their own under strict Islamic law.
Five Kenyan police officers were killed in the same region earlier this month.