3 killed in al-Shabab attack in northeast Kenya

MANDERA, Kenya, July 14 (Xinhua) 

Two police officers and a teacher were killed and others injured when al-Shabab militants overran a police station in Mandera County, northeast Kenya, early Friday, authorities said.

The police said that terrorists also destroyed a telecommunications mast, disrupting general communication in the area.

The Wargadud police station in El Wak, which is a few kilometers away from the border with Somalia, was overrun at 1:30 a.m., forcing most of the officers there to scamper for their safety, according to a security report.

The extremist group has destroyed several communication masts in the past to disrupt communication and to prevent police from immediate response.

According to police, the militants stole a police vehicle and an unknown amount of ammunition from the station.

The police said a military response team that tried to intervene was attacked with bombs at their camp in El Wak, adding that the terrorists escaped to the nearby border.

Tension remains high in the area with non-locals fearing being targeted by terrorists. The teacher killed is not a local, police said.

The National Police Service said it has sent reinforcements to the area to pursue the attackers.

The latest attack on the police station came hours after terrorists overran and seized control of the Geriley military camp that had been handed over by the Kenya Defense Forces troops in southern Somalia near the border with Kenya. 

Kenyan troops have been in Somalia since October 2011 as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (formerly known as the African Union Mission in Somalia) to help in fighting the Shabab terror group.