Suspected Al-Shabaab militants burn trucks on Lamu–South Sudan road
Suspected Al-Shabab militants have burned eight cars and trucks belonging to a Chinese construction company working on the regional highway linking Lamu County to South Sudan.
The militia touched trucks used in the construction of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project in Baragoni–Bodhei in Lamu County-the coastal side of Kenya.
According to the officials, the suspected al-Shabaab are believed to have set the exploded bombs to disrupt the Lapsset Corridor program in Eastern Africa, the largest infrastructure project bringing together South Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
The incident came a day after security agencies operating in the area said they were on high alert following reports that suspected terrorists in Lamu were targeting the Lapsset port and road.
This indicated the security agencies had intelligence the gang planned to attack the facilities but did not know where they were hiding.
The Chinese company is constructing the road that will lead to Garissa, Isiolo, and later, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Local police officials said they had deployed more personnel to pursue the gang operating in the expansive Boni Forest while attacking government vehicles.
Lamu County head of security, Irungu Macharia, said no injuries were reported and that they were pursuing the gang.
“There are fears they are planning an attack on security agencies and civilians. This has prompted operations spanning from Mandera, Wajir, Lamu and parts of Kilifi County, ” he said.
The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border, which has been attacked by terrorists in the past. A team of detectives has been sent there to back up with locals to help in the operation,” he added.
According to him, the area is among those under the dusk to dawn to dusk curfew. And that explains why the attackers targeted the vehicles in the daytime.
The government has blamed ethnic profiling that is linked to political inclinations around elections, the looming voter registration drive and land disputes as the primary causes of the latest attacks and displacements in Lamu.
In October 2021, South Sudan and its neighbor, Kenya, signed a peace memorandum of understanding boosting security surveillance during road construction between the two countries.
Government officials drawn from the two countries acknowledged that the conflict has interrupted the development of the road linking the Eastern Equatoria State to Kenya through the Turkana region.
