MANDERA (SD) – At least three Kenyan police officers have been wounded after suspected al-Shabaab fighters ambushed police vehicle in Mandera county near the border with Somalia.

In a statement, Kenyan police said the police vehicle from Wargadud police station was heading for Elwak when those on board came under gun attack.

Two Kenya Police Reservists and the acting Officer Commanding Station were wounded in the attack.

Victims were admitted to local hospital with multiple injuries, police said.

The development comes a day after Kenya’s North Eastern Regional Commissioner Nicodemus Ndalana ordered the police to eliminated al-Shabaab suspects on the spot.

Those in this area are locals. Someone cannot come from Kismayu, hide here and even know the landscape without the knowledge of the locals. There must be youth showing them around,” Ndalana said. “As government, we are not going to have mercy on anybody including al-Shabaab sympathisers. The remedy to tame al-Shabaab is death by bullet.”

Ndalana who is the top representative of the national government in the region stated that the solution to this menace is to come up with a homegrown solution to enable the timely sharing of intelligence.

The directive was condemned by the local leaders of Mandera county including the governor of the county, Ali Roba who asked the government to build trust with citizens as a way of strengthening information sharing avenues.

Mandera has been borne the brunt of grenade and gun attacks in the last several years since Kenya took its troops to Somalia to fight the al-Shabaab group.

Al-Shabaab group has been attacking areas along Kenya-Somalia border while targeting mostly non- locals working in the region.