Three Kenya Defense Forces troops were among five people killed on Thursday in the latest Al-Shabaab attack on the Kenya security forces in North Eastern.
Al-Shabaab militants launched a rocket propelled grenade that destroyed ironically, an armoured vehicle, injuring over 20 security forces along Elwak in Mandera.
The teams were travelling between Farhama and Elram when their two armoured vehicles and a lorry were hit by the rocket fired by suspected Al Shabaab militants.
The attack badly damaged the vehicles, killing three KDF soldiers and two ASTU personnel. Those injured were evacuated to Nairobi for treatment.
“It is a shame that they died in such an attack in a vehicle that is supposed to protect them. It raises questions on the suitability of these carriers,” said an official aware of the incident.
It's not clear how the grenade could destroy a vehicle that is meant to be resistant to such attacks. President Uhuru Kenyatta procured armoured vehicles in 2016.
The attack came at the time when it emerged that Kenya has lost majority of troops in Somalia. At least 1,800 AMISOM soldiers have been killed by Al-Shabaab.
Further, politics between Somalia and Kenya escalated recently, with the former opposing the latter's bid to have Al-Shabaab listed as a terrorists group.
Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, argued that Al Shabaab can be tamed through existing UN Security Council resolutions, as long as there was a regional co-operation on it.
“[We] urge [the] Kenyan government to implement existing Security Council resolution 751 targeting AS (al-Shabaab), including the ban of illegal charcoal trade in Somalia, which is the lifeline of AS to finance its operations in the region,” Mr Osman tweeted on Wednesday.
Also, the two nations are embroiled in Indian Ocean maritime dispute, which has seen Kenya threaten to deploy KDF along the contested region.
The two countries shall return to the International Court of Justice at the Hague for hearing after postponement in September following Kenya's request.