Assailants hurl two grenades at police in Kenya

Anonymous assailants on Friday evening hurled two hand grenades at police officers on patrol in Wajir town in northern Kenya but missed their target.
Wajir County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said the assailants hurled the grenades at the officers who were on a normal night patrol in the town center around Equity Bank, but no one was injured in the incident which occurred at around 8 p.m. local time.
Shisia said the five police officers responded immediately where there was fierce exchange of fire that lasted 10 minutes.
“Luckily no officer was injured in the incident as they responded swiftly. The assailants also managed to escape on foot,” the government administrator told Xinhua by telephone.
He said the motive of the attackers was to injure or even kill the police officers before stealing their firearms or breaking into the bank to steal money.
“We have launched investigations into the matter. We are optimistic of arresting these people because we believe they are just in our midst,” he said.
Late last year, two people were killed in the same town and several others left with injuries when unknown assailants opened fire at patrons who were enjoying themselves at a local bar.
The latest Wajir incident came just a week after another hand grenade was hurled by unknown assailants at a food kiosk in Mandera town, northeastern Kenya. Several people were injured in the incident.
Insecurity in northern Kenya has been a thorn in the flesh of the government as it grapples to find a lasting solution to it.
The insecurity problem has made nonlocal teachers working in the region refuse to go back and demanded to be transferred.
The East African nation continues to suffer several attacks as terrorists change tuck to beat heightened security and carry on with their heinous acts undetected.
In the recent past, there have been numerous attacks involving shootings, grenades, or other explosive devices in Kenya in addition to the attacks described above.
Most of these attacks occurred in northern part of the country while several attacks also occurred along the coast.