Casualties Reported in Fierce Al-Shabaab Gunfight

A riot police officer in Majengo slums, Mombasa County on August 28, 2012.
A riot police officer in Majengo slums, Mombasa County on August 28, 2012.
Associated Press

Four militants suspected to be affiliated with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group died in a shootout with police in Wajir county.

The fiery shootout took place in Kakabey, Wajir county on the morning of Monday, April 13.

A report published by the Daily Nation on Monday, April 13 provided that two police reservists had been critically injured during the altercation.

Salat Hajir Jimale, a suspected Al-Shabaab fighter at Elwak Police Station in Mandera on February 20, 2020.
Salat Hajir Jimale, a suspected Al-Shabaab fighter at Elwak Police Station in Mandera on February 20, 2020.
Daily Nation

Thomas Ngeywa, the Wajir  Police Commander confirmed that the incident had taken place at around 10.00 a.m in an area about eight kilometres from the Kenya-Somalia border.

Police reservists based in Wajir were on their routine patrol in the morning when they came across members of the Somali-based militia group.

"Earlier today we received reports that some of our police reservists who were on routine patrol encountered an unknown number of suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Qarsa area before a gunfight ensued resulting in casualties," stated Ngeywa.

In the ensuing gun battle, a number of police reservists were inured though it had not been ascertained just how many. Unconfirmed reports indicate that at least two officers were critically wounded.

"I cannot confirm the number of casualties at the moment but we are aware that four militants were gunned down, "said Mr Ngeywa.

The Al-Shabaab is identified globally as an Islamist insurgent group based in Somalia.

Police respond to an Al Shabaab attack when they stormed Garissa University College
Police respond to an Al Shabaab attack when they stormed Garissa University College, in April 2015
The Standard

The group is currently headed by Ahmed Umar who was installed in 2014 after a U.S. drone strike killed the previous leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane.

The militia group claimed responsibility for the death of 148 people during an attack on a university in Garissa.

This ranks as the deadliest attack the country had witnessed since the death of 200 people in the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi. 

 

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