Kenya: At least eight killed in Al-Shabaab bombing in Lamu county on June 27

Event

A suspected Al-Shabaab improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Kiunga Town, Lamu county, on Tuesday, June 27. The explosion resulted in the deaths of four police officers and four children riding in a passing truck.

Context

No group has claimed responsibility the incident, but Al-Shabaab is suspected of being behind the attack. Over the past three months, IED attacks have killed at least 46 people, including 20 police officers, mostly in Mandera and Garissa counties. Both counties are located along the border with Somalia.
Al-Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in Kenya’s northeast, near the porous border with Somalia where the group is based, as well as coastal areas popular with tourists and the capital Nairobi. The militant group has been effectively at war with the country since Kenyan forces engaged in the international fight against the terrorist group beginning in October 2011. Al-Shabaab, which seeks to topple Somalia's government and impose its own harsh interpretation of Sharia law, says it will continue to attack Kenya until Nairobi withdraws its troops from the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Advice

Individuals in Kenya are advised to report any suspicious objects or behavior to the relevant authorities and be particularly cautious when visiting sites deemed particularly likely to be targeted in an attack (government buildings, places of worship, tourist sites, etc.). Due to these and other security concerns, many Western governments advise against travel to a number of regions in the country, including areas bordering Somalia (parts of Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu counties), Ethiopia, and South Sudan, as well as nonessential travel to the city of Mombasa. Several Nairobi neighborhoods, including Eastleigh and Pangani, are also best avoided.