NAIROBI, Kenya – The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab intensified attacks in Northern Frontier Districts [NFD] within the Republic of Kenya, even with concerted efforts to dismember the terrorists who control large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia.

On Monday night, sources say, AlShabab killed three police officers following an Improvised Explosive Device [IED] explosion within Garissa County, one of the hotspots. At least eight police officers attached to Special Operations Force were injured in the attack, officials said.

The bomb had been placed on the roadside in the Kiwanja area and the police vehicles were on the move. Within just a week, at least 11 security officers have been killed in Al-Shabaab-related attacks, posing questions about the safety of locals who are vulnerable to such attacks.

The injured were rushed to Garissa hospitals as to hospitals in Garissa as the terrorists behind the attack vanished into the bush, the Star reports. Last week, eight police officers attached to Special Operations Force were killed in Ogorwen within Mandera following an ambush on their convoy.

In response, police killed at least 20 militants along the border, with security forces recovering several sophisticated weapons. General Francis Ogolla, the Chief of Defense Forces, has already visited troops working along the Kenya-Somalia border.

In their ongoing joint operations across the border in Somalia local troops together with KDF and the USA are bombarding the terror cells. This, experts say, has forced some of the militants to cross over to the country, leading to sustained Al-Shabaab attacks.

The government of Kenya has pledged to work closely with local troops, ATMIS, and local militia to flush out Al-Shabaab from various hiding places. In the next few months, the second phase of operations against Al-Shabaab will commence in parts of Jubaland and Southwest states.