Witnesses and officials say at least seven Kenyan soldiers were killed and two others seriously injured after a vehicle they were travelling in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the border town of Dhobley in Somalia.
The incident occurred as the officers conducted their routine night patrols. Their vehicle hit the IED, suspected to have been laid by Al Shabaab militants, and triggered the explosion. The vehicle which was part of a convoy was extensively damaged but was the only one damaged in the explosion.
According to a Somali military official who didn’t want to be named, he saw the bodies of seven Kenyan soldiers and two others badly injured in the explosion adding that the IED tore apart the vehicle, killing the soldiers instantly.
The militant group claims to have killed 15 soldiers in the explosion. Kenyan military officials could not be reached for comment. Local media however report that the Department of Defence is waiting for a bomb damage assessment report from officers on the ground before issuing an official statement on the attack.
Witnesses however put the number of casualties higher with a resident in the area saying the explosion affected two vehicles. The resident says the death toll could be higher than 10 with several soldiers injured.
The convoy was part of the Kenya military serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia known as AMISOM. The convoy was heading to a military base in Dhobley in Somalia’s Lower Jubba region.
Just last week, Somali government soldiers were killed in the same area in an IED explosion that destroyed their vehicle.
Military experts say IEDs have been al-Shabaab’s weapons of choice with the group frequestly targeting Somali and AMISOM military convoys with the explosives as part of their deadly ambushes on supply routes in south-central Somalia.
