By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI

Six police officers in Kenya were killed Tuesday after their vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Lamu County, a coastal area of Kenya.

“It is true that we have lost some officers in Lamu after driving over an IED. There were about 15 officers in total patrolling the Boni forest area, which is a known as an al-Shabaab base. Six people were killed on the spot while three others were badly injured and were rushed to Lamu Hospital,” a senior police officer who wished not to be named told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

He added that the truck had just left the town of Hingi and was headed to Kiunga in Lamu.

“The fallen officers belonged to the Rapid Deployment Unit of the Administration police,” he said.

On Dec. 27, two police officers were killed after driving over an IED in Lamu County. The next day, five police officers perished in a similar way in the same county.