One police officer was left with a bullet lodged in his abdomen while another had the flesh on his left hand badly torn by a bullet after suspected Al Shabaab militants attacked Fino police station in Mandera on Friday night.
Lafey Police boss Bosita Omukolongolo said the attackers, who are believed to have arrived in a tipper lorry, may have targeted guns and other weaponry at the police station. He also called it a surprise attack which caught the injured officers, who were on duty, unawares.
He however said that the police managed to repulse the attackers who had had reportedly surrounded the police station.
Bosita has said the police are currently on an operation to pursue and possibly arrest the attackers believed to be still hiding within the town. He also said that plans were underway to have the injured officers, Jackson Maiyo and Bernard Kosgey, airlifted to Nairobi for specialized treatment.
Speaking at the Mandera Referral Hospital where the injured officers were admitted, Bernard Kosgey, one of the injured officers said the station was surrounded before the militants started firing at them.
“We were on duty and saw a tipper lorry coming from the Mandera side before the lights went off,” said Kosgey.
He said the militants first shot at the Fino Administration Police Camp to keep them indoors before attacking the police station.
He also said the police station was badly damaged as the attackers hurled explosives into the station burning police tents.
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