MANDERA, Kenya, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Six Kenyan paramilitary police officers were wounded Monday evening in a roadside blast in northeastern Mandera County, the police confirmed Tuesday.
The police said the officers were driving in an official vehicle headed for Mandera town when they ran over a set improvised explosive device (IED) that was planted along the road.
"An IED exploded on the left side of the road which fortunately missed the vehicle. The same was reinforced with sporadic gunshots," the police said in a security report.
Witnesses and police said two of the officers were critically injured and were rushed to a local hospital amid plans for evacuation to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
It is believed the bomb was set up by al-Shabab militants or their sympathizers who are operating in the area.
Response teams that arrived there minutes later did not find those behind the incident.
Police said they are investigating the attack which is new after a long lull. The lull was a culmination of the Ramadan period during which almost zero incidents of attack were reported.
The area is near the Kenya-Somalia border which is usually breached by terrorists who attack and escape. The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.
The police have deployed more security forces in the area in an effort to tame cross-border attacks. ■