One dead: Details of terror attack in Mandera, what we know so far
A woman died on the morning of Monday, January 16, 2023, after suspected Al Shabaab militants attacked a public service vehicle plying the Banisa- Mandera road.
Nairobi News has established that the woman was among ten passengers in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
The rest of the passengers in the motor vehicle escaped the attack and are said to be safe.
Al Shabaab is fond of carrying out such deadly attacks, especially during December, January and February.
The incident comes just hours after the Congolese army arrested a Kenyan national after he was linked to a Sunday, January 15, 2023, deadly attack near the Ugandan- Congo border that killed five people.
Abdirizak Muktar Garad was arrested by the soldiers hours after the deadly attack that took place during a church service that was taking place at a Protestant church in the city located in the Eastern part of Congo.
Also read: Suspected killer nurse eludes capture: How is she surviving while on the run?
An army spokesman said the attack during a Sunday service was likely carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). This Ugandan militant group has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
“Despite the security measures put in place, the first indications show that it is the ADF which is behind this bomb attack,” Anthony Mualushay told the media after the incident.
This would be the first time the ADF targeted Kasindi since the group stepped up attacks in the region in 2014, local territorial administrator Charles Omeonga told the media, who said the estimated death toll was at least 10.
Kasindi is in a province where Congolese and Ugandan forces have launched a campaign against the ADF, which began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s.
It pledged allegiance to Islamic State in mid-2019 and is accused of killing hundreds of villagers in frequent raids over the past two years.
In January 2022, a most wanted Kenyan was nabbed in the Congo and was linked to terror-related charges.
Also read: Kenyan linked to terror attack that killed five in Congo arrested