When gunmen thought to be al-Shabaab terrorists assaulted a Chinese Construction Company parking lot on Baragoni – Bodhei Road in Lamu County, at least eight vehicles were destroyed.
According to officials, the gang shot and exploded explosives at the lot early Sunday morning, igniting the vehicles.
The trucks are part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Road construction.
The LAPSSET Corridor Program is the biggest and most ambitious infrastructure project in Eastern Africa, linking together Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
The group fled as soon as the crime was reported.
The incident occurred a day after security forces in the region declared a state of emergency after indications that militants in Lamu were targeting the Lapset port and road.
This meant that security authorities had information that the gang intended to assault the facilities but didn’t know where.
The Chinese business is building the road that will connect Garissa, Isiolo, and eventually Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Local police authorities claimed they had sent extra officers to follow the group, which was assaulting government cars in the vast Boni Forest.
Irungu Macharia, Lamu’s chief of security, said that no injuries had been recorded and that the gang was being pursued.
The region is subject to the twilight to dawn to dusk curfew. That explains why the terrorists chose to target the automobiles during the day.
The administration has attributed the current assaults and displacements in Lamu on ethnic profiling tied to political orientations surrounding elections, a planned voter registration campaign, and property conflicts.
A team of investigators has been sent to the area to work with locals to aid in the operation.
They are suspected of plotting an assault against security services and civilians. This has resulted in operations in Mandera, Wajir, Lamu, and portions of Kilifi Counties.
The location is close the Kenya-Somalia border, which has previously been attacked by terrorists.
