Several Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers are feared dead after a car they were travelling in hit an improvised road bomb.

A statement by Counter Terrorism & National Security Intelligence  Service (CTNSIS) indicated that the incident occurred in Lamu County on the morning of Tuesday, May 18.

The officers' vehicle hit the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).that is believed to have been planted by Al Shabaab

"A Kenya Army morning patrol party came into contact with a terrorist RC-IED at Baure area of Lamu, Coastal Kenya. The army lost troops in the incident while a dozen other were injured," read the statement in part.

KDF officers at the scene of the incident in Somalia

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The statement was corroborated by Lamu commissioner Irungu Macharia who confirmed that the officers were on a morning patrol, according to Nation.

This comes even as al Shabaab gets on with its offensive against Kenya, especially KDF, after the country vowed that it would continue to fight the militia group in Somalia. 

In January 2021, seven Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers who were killed in a bomb attack in Southern Somalia.

The incident occurred after the KDF vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). 

It happened between Dhobley and Hosingow and is said to be the second attack on KDF in Lower Juba region within 24 hours. The residents confirmed that the truck was badly damaged.

Kenyan troops entered Somalia to launch a military offensive against al-Shabaab, called Operation Linda Nchi (Protect the Country).

The troops are part of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which was deployed in 2007 in an effort to fight the al Shabaab militia, a branch of al Qaeda.

KDF officers at an accident scene. TWITTER, By Derrick Okubasu, Kenyans.co.ke