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MOGADISHU, 12 November 2026 Somalia's federal government on Thursday condemned an attack by suspected al-Shabaab militants that killed eight Kenyans in Mandera county near the Somali border, and called for a joint fight against terrorist groups and anyone who shelters them.
Two police reservists, five construction workers and a driver were killed in northeast Kenya on Tuesday when gunmen ambushed their vehicle on the Mandera-Arabia-Lafey Road, according to Kenyan police and a regional official. Regional official John Odhiambo Otieno said the armed assailants were believed to have crossed the nearby border from Somalia.
The victims were part of a team of 15 people who had left Mandera Town in two motor vehicles for a construction site about an hour earlier. Seven people were killed on the spot and the driver died in hospital. The attackers stole two AK-47 rifles and ammunition from the slain police reservists.
In a statement, Somalia's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism sent condolences to the families of those killed in what it called a cowardly attack.
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"Terrorism is a global enemy," the ministry said. It added that militants and those linked to them must be fought together, and that no one should give them shelter.
The condemnation came on the same day Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre told a cabinet meeting in Mogadishu that normalising militant groups posed a serious security threat.
Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked group based in Somalia, has carried out repeated attacks in Kenya, mostly in areas near the border between the two countries. In July, five Kenyan security officers, including four members of the elite Special Operations Group, were killed in Mandera when their patrol team was hit by a suspected al-Shabaab improvised explosive device. In May, a 14-seater vehicle that had left Mandera town for Arabia town was ambushed at Beer-Awayon village, killing six people.
Kenya has troops in Somalia as part of the African Union mission fighting al-Shabaab, which the group has cited as a reason for attacks on Kenyan soil.