Five elite squad police officers were killed by al-Shabaab terrorists in Boni Forest, in Lamu County, on Wednesday evening.
The militants are said to have ambushed the Special Operations Unit (SOU) officers as they pursued other suspects believed to be al-Shabaab operatives in the region.
The attack left another five officers from the unit with serious injuries. Sources indicated that some of the militants also sustained injuries during the encounter.
Reports indicated that the officers had spent two days inside the forest tracking the criminals. This followed intelligence that the militants were planning to launch a large-scale ambush.
The injured officers were evacuated from the forest and flown to Nairobi for treatment.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, on Thursday, visited the injured officers at Nairobi West Hospital, and condemned the attack.
Murkomen, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, pledged the government’s commitment to cracking down on the assailants.
Meanwhile, Murkomen said a police officer who was injured during an anti-gang operation in Port-au-Prince in Haiti, was also receiving treatment at the same facility.
Kenya is leading the Multinational Security Support mission in the Caribbean country, which was authorised by the UN Security Council in October 2023. The objective of the operation is to help Haiti's national police combat the rising gang violence and reestablish security.
"I spent Labour Day visiting police officers injured in the line of duty who are undergoing treatment at the Nairobi West Hospital. Our security officers sacrifice a lot to keep us safe and secure, and they need our support," Murkomen said.
In his speech, Murkomen also sent a message of condolences to the affected families, reiterating the government's commitment to improving the welfare of police officers.
"The officers sustained injuries in the fight against crime in various parts of the country. And we have one officer who was injured in Haiti. I also sent our deepest sympathies to the families of five officers who lost their lives in recent operations across the country," Murkomen said.
He added: "We are committed to improving the welfare of our officers through the various reforms that include better working conditions and pay as well as enhanced medical care."
The latest al-Shabaab attack comes just four days after the terrorists killed five quarry workers and injured two others in Madera County.
The militants, who were about ten, are said to have ambushed a vehicle that was carrying the miners on Tuesday, April 29, around 6 am. They ordered them out of the vehicle before killing five people on the spot.
