By Andrew Wasike

Nairobi

Eight people, including seven police officers, were killed Wednesday when their vehicle ran over an improvized explosive device in Kenya.

The police officers from the Mangai Rapid Border Patrol Unit were patrolling the Kenya-Somalia border. 

A senior police officer from the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack to Anadolu Agency, saying the Kenya Defense Forces had found the slain policemen in the Baure area in the Lamu County. 

“The Kenya Defense Forces engaged the militants in a fierce gunfight which led to them fleeing the area, the vehicle ferrying the policemen was totally destroyed by the bomb explosion,” the officer said. 

The attack comes barely a week after five police officers were killed in a similar manner in Garissa County.

The recent deaths bring the total number of police officers killed by IEDs in Kenya this month to 28.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but, in previous years, the Somali-based al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab militant group had increased terror attacks in Kenya and Somalia during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.