Four terror suspects have been shot dead following a confrontation with security officers in two separate incidents in Garissa county.

The first incident happened Saturday in the Yumbis area of Garissa prefecture, police said.

A team from Kenya’s elite Special Operations Group (SOG) on Saturday conducted a meticulously planned, intelligence-driven operation in the Yumbis area of Garissa, killing three suspects as others escaped.

The team also destroyed a camp the gang was using as their operation base.

The area is among those serving as breeding grounds for the terrorists from Somalia’s al Shabaab, according to the authorities.

“The officers recovered weapons and ammunition the suspects were using during the raid,” police headquarters said.

The incident came just hours after another police squad from SOG killed a suspect and recovered a significant cache of weaponry including three AK-47 rifles and magazines, an RPG launcher, an RPG warhead, VHF radios, detonators and other materials.

The cache was intended to be used in a planned attack in the country,” police headquarters said.

Four killed

The attack, which increased the number of suspects killed to four, was conducted in Fafi area of the same county.

The security agencies have enhanced operations in the region amid fears that terrorists have been trying to establish bases to launch fresh attacks.

In one of the latest attacks, a lorry that was carrying water was on Friday badly damaged when it ran over an explosive device in Elwak area, Mandera County.

The driver escaped unhurt in the incident, police said.

Police operations have thwarted dozens of planned attacks in the area and inland. The area is under a multi-agency security operation and is near the Kenya-Somalia border.

The multi-agency operation seeks to flush out the militants from the region, with reports indicating that there has been a significant reduction in such incidents.

This is among other things because of its proximity to Somalia border. The border areas of Mandera, Wajir, Lamu and Garissa too have faced similar attacks, which have affected development at large.

The government has also adopted softer approaches that include the involvement of youth and religious leaders in fighting the complex and dynamic threat of violent extremism, following the adoption of the second National Counter Terrorism Strategy.