A police commander and his driver are dead after their vehicle hit a bomb on the Saretho-Dadaab road in Garissa County early this Friday morning. The commander was the Hagadera Sub-County Police Commander. The blast happened while they were travelling in a Land Cruiser, and officials have confirmed the deaths.
Police and other security agencies moved quickly to the scene. Investigators are now going through the pieces they have collected to find out how the explosive got onto the road and who planted it. Security teams have also been sent out to search the area and keep the road safe for other travellers.
Some things are still not clear. Nobody has said how badly the vehicle was damaged, and it is not yet known if anyone else was in the car when it exploded. Anyone with information about the blast is being asked to share it with the nearest police station.
This is not the first time bombs have hit roads in the northeast. In August, a Land Cruiser carrying six people struck a roadside explosive near Odole Village in Elwak, Mandera County. The attack was suspected to be the work of Al-Shabaab, and one of the injured was said to be in critical condition. The next day, a man in Mandera Town lost an arm when a bomb went off in his hands.
Police data from the time showed at least 25 cross-border attacks in Mandera, Garissa, Wajir and Lamu counties so far that year. In September, five people, two of them police officers, were reportedly killed in a bandit attack in Gotu, Isiolo County.
Officers on these roads face danger every day, and their families often wait anxiously for news. Today, the family of the commander and the driver are the ones grieving. Our hope is that the investigation brings answers soon and that the roads in these counties become safe again.
