7th July, 2015
No fewer than 14 people were killed and 12 others injured on Tuesday in a suspected Al-Shabaab terror attack in Mandera County, close to Kenya’s border with Somali.
Mandera County Commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo, confirmed the early morning attack; saying that unknown gunmen hurled grenades into a residential building located about 2 kilometres from Mandera town.
“Thirteen males and one female, mostly construction workers, were killed in the dawn attack, while 12 have been evacuated and rushed to a hospital.
“We still do not know those behind the attack, but we have launched a manhunt for the killers who escaped immediately after the incident.
“The deceased were caught unaware; the attackers shot in the air several times and even used petrol bombs to carry out the attack.
“Most people were sleeping in tents outside their houses because the weather condition in Mandera is very hot,” Nkoyo told newsmen.
Sources said suspected Al-Shabaab militants first hurled several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) before opening fire on the quarry workers who were sleeping at that time.
The government late 2014 ordered quarry workers to leave the quarries and move to town for security reasons after 36 of them were killed in December.