This archive report was first published on 30 October 2021.
Published on October 30, 2021, a dramatic incident unfolded in Somalia's Mudug region when 10 Al-Shabaab militants lost their lives after their vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) they had planted on a road.
According to Somalia National Television (SNTV), the militants had targeted military forces operating in the region by planting the IED near Qeycad village.
However, the Al-Shabaab militants fell victim to their own trap when their pick-up truck hit the explosive, reducing it to ashes.
“10 Al-Shabaab terrorist members have died after their pick-up vehicle hit an IED they planted on the road near Qeycad village in the Mudug region on Friday, local officials and residents reported,” SNTV tweeted.
This incident bears a striking resemblance to a similar case in Kenya last month, where 15 Al-Shabaab members were killed when their vehicle ran over an Improvised explosive device.
Al-Shabaab has a history of carrying out IED attacks in Kenya, targeting security officers patrolling key routes along the porous Kenya-Somali border.
Notably, in 2018, over 100 Kenyan police officers lost their lives in separate IED attacks along the border.
The Kenyan army has since emphasized the need to procure high-performance armored personnel carriers (APCs) from Turkey to protect its troops from Vehicle-Borne IEDs (VBIEDs), IEDs, and directional explosives.
