This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
On July 1, 2019, a group of Al Shabaab militants attempted to attack a group of construction workers traveling in a matatu along the Elwak-Borehole 11 road in North Eastern Kenya. However, the driver of the vehicle, who was not identified, managed to evade the militants and drive the workers to safety under a hail of bullets.
The militants had stopped the vehicle and ordered the workers to lie down, but the driver tricked them into believing that the site engineer, Joel Muinde Kitali, had escaped. The militants then fled the scene after being told that security officials were on their way.
This was not the first time that Al Shabaab militants had targeted construction workers in the area. In July 2019, four militants stormed a construction site in Borehole 11 where a health centre was being built and caused mayhem for over 30 minutes before leaving.
The militants had ordered 10 construction workers to lie down and demanded to see Mr. Kitali, the site engineer. They even called the owner of the construction company, Issack Ali Jiran, and asked him about the whereabouts of their target.
According to a police report filed at the Kotulo Police Patrol Base in Mandera County, Mr. Jiran tricked the militants into believing that the engineer had escaped and that security officials were on their way to the site. The militants then shot in the air and fled, leaving no one injured.
The area of Borehole 11 has seen an upsurge in terror-related activities, and the government closed down the only Administration Police camp in the area in 2014. The locals have been protesting the closure, claiming that the national government has abandoned them in the hands of the militants.
Security expert George Musamali attributed the targeting of construction workers to the fact that most of them are non-local and are Christians. He also stated that the militants are using intel on the ground from locals to know what is happening and that the government should use the same strategy and work with the locals for intel to secure the area.
