The Special Operations Group, an elite multi-agency unit drawn from the National Police Service (NPS), repulsed Al-Shabaab militia, who had targeted their Fino camp on Tuesday evening.
According to the police, the militia initiated the attack by firing two Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) at the camp, prompting officers to engage the attackers, who fled into the nearby bushes.
One of the RPGs landed at the camp while the other missed and landed outside.
“The team responded swiftly and successfully repulsed the enemy. All officers have been accounted for, and no casualties were reported on our side,” an officer said on the matter that was reported at Lafey Police Station, Mandera County.
The incident occurred two weeks after security agencies in the same region again repulsed an attempt by Al-Shabaab militia to forcefully gain entry into a Chinese contractor’s residence located about a kilometre off Elwak Police Station.
Police said the militia had been transported to the area using four Probox vehicles, which gained entry into Elwak town from Buraache along the border cutline routes.
“They positioned themselves on the opposite side of the road facing the main gate of the Chinese residence, but the officers on guard duty gallantly held their ground and successfully repulsed the attack,” they added.
Officers from the Border Patrol Unit at Elwak reinforced the team on the ground in joint efforts that secured all 10 occupants of the house and brought the situation under control.
At the same time, security agencies continue to enhance operations along the Kenya-Somalia border to avert continued attempts by the Al-Shabaab militia to infiltrate the country.
According to the latest IGAD analysis of the threat of terrorism in the Horn of Africa region, Kenya continued to face heightened vulnerability to cross-border spillovers from neighbouring conflict zones between July and September, a challenge that is now extending to the last quarter of the year.
The report by the IGAD’s Centre of Excellence for Preventing Violent Extremism (ICEPCVE) noted that although the overall scale of attacks declined, targeted and cross-border incidents persisted, underscoring the resilience and adaptability of violent extremist networks in the region. The conflict shifted as militant groups adapted through asymmetric and technology-enhanced tactics amid intensified counterterrorism operations.
As such, the quarter saw persistent militant activity across Somalia and Kenya’s border regions, with the conflict shifting toward asymmetric and technology-enhanced warfare amid intensified counterterrorism efforts.
“The use of drones, crypto-financing, and Houthi-linked weapons marked a new level of sophistication on both sides. August recorded a surge in attacks as militants retaliated against joint Somali-UPDF operations and international airstrikes, while by September the overall scale declined, though targeted and symbolic strikes persisted, showing adaptation rather than weakness,” the centre warns.
In the quarter under review, a few cross-border and IED attacks were reported in northeastern and coastal Kenya, particularly along the Mandera-Garissa-Lamu corridor.
By Eastleighvoice