At least two Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers have been killed as they responded to a suspected Al-Shabaab attack on a General Service Unit (GSU) team at Mlima wa Faru, Lamu County.

10 other GSU officers had been injured when the armoured personnel carrier (APC) they were travelling in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Brigadier Zipporah Kioko, the Chief of the KDF Strategic Communications said the KDF troops stationed in the area responded to the attack when their vehicle was hit.

“They moved swiftly to secure the area and recover the wounded. Regrettably, during the recovery operation, two KDF personnel were fatally wounded in a follow-up ambush,” Brig. Kioko said.

The explosive is suspected to have been planted on the road by Al-Shabaab militants at the scene which lies between Pandanguo and Witu.

Lamu West Deputy County Commissioner Gabriel Kioni confirmed the two incidents adding that the GSU officers were on their routine patrol within the Pandanguo route which borders the vast Boni forest.

“The APC was first hit by a roadside bomb and when the KDF team responded aboard a Toyota Landcruiser, they were hit and we have casualties,” a senior government official said.

The injured were evacuated to various hospitals and are undergoing treatment.

“After the initial attack, the militants came out of the forest and tried to attack the officers but the KDF response team arrived and were also ambushed,” he added.

The Boni forest operation was launched in 2015 with its initial name being Operation Linda Boni to flush out militants believed to be hiding inside the dense Boni Forest.