Three police officers were injured on Friday night after suspected Al-Shabaab militants launched a brazen attack on a Special Operations Group camp in Fino, Lafey Sub-County, Mandera County, in what security analysts describe as part of a sustained campaign by the Somalia-based militant group to test Kenya’s border defenses.
According to police, the militants deployed Rocket-Propelled Grenades and PKM machine guns during the assault on the elite camp. SOG officers responded swiftly, engaging the attackers in a fierce firefight that lasted approximately 25 minutes before forcing the militants to retreat. The injured officers were evacuated for medical treatment as security agencies immediately launched a pursuit operation.
Authorities have since deployed additional security personnel to the area, with a manhunt ongoing for the assailants who fled following the failed raid. No breakthrough had been publicly announced at the time of publication.
The attack on the Fino camp is not an isolated incident. Just two days earlier, on Wednesday evening, suspected militants targeted the Jabi Quick Response Unit camp, also in Lafey Sub-County, in a similarly coordinated assault. Preliminary reports indicated that about 10 heavily armed fighters approached the camp from the north-eastern direction and opened fire, apparently from a distance of about 600 metres, in what authorities believe was a deliberate attempt to test the camp’s defensive capabilities. Officers repelled the attack without the militants breaching the facility.
The two incidents within 48 hours have raised fresh alarm over the security situation along Kenya’s northeastern frontier. Fino’s proximity to the Kenya-Somalia border makes it a recurring flashpoint, with the area having previously experienced multiple attacks linked to Al-Shabaab.
The Special Operations Group is an elite multi-agency counter-terrorism unit operating under the Border Patrol Unit and works closely with the National Intelligence Service to secure Kenya’s borders and respond to high-risk threats. The repeated targeting of SOG and QRU installations signals that Al-Shabaab is actively probing the capabilities and response times of Kenya’s most specialized border security units.
Security experts warn that the escalating frequency of such attacks demands a robust and coordinated response from both the Kenya Defence Forces and intelligence agencies if the militant group’s foothold along the border is to be meaningfully degraded. The government is yet to issue a comprehensive statement on the incidents, even as communities in Mandera County continue to live under the shadow of militant violence.
