by Stephen Ingati and Fabian Mangera
GARISSA, Kenya, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Al-Shabaab militants on Wednesday night destroyed a mast of Kenya's mobile operator Safaricom in Garissa County in northeast region, cutting off communication in the area.
Regional government official Mohamed Saleh said Thursday the militants struck Fafi Centre in Fafi sub-country and the attackers are believed to have planted landmines on the route leading to the area.
"We understand there are criminals who destroyed a communication mast at Fafi Centre hence affecting various activities there. We are pursuing them," Saleh said, adding that security officers have been sent to the area to access the extent of damage.
Local residents said the police response to the site was slow out of fear of being affected by the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that may have been planted there.
Police have dismissed reports saying the militants who have been upped landmine attacks in northeast Kenya had also set ablaze the local primary school.
Fafi divisional police commander John Ogola said security officers have launched a manhunt for the attackers believed to have crossed the border to Somalia.
The Somalia-based extremist group has in the recent weeks enhanced their attacks across the region, killing about 20 police officers and injuring several others including civilians in May.
There has been a string of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants and their sympathizers since Kenya sent troops into Somalia on October 2011 to subdue the insurgents who were blamed for a series of murders and kidnappings on the Kenyan soil with northern region being one of the worst hit by the attacks.
The latest attacks came amid raising fears among communities living along the porous border with Somalia that the terror group fleeing a major onslaught in southern Somalia by the Africa Union forces was likely to turn their frustration on the innocent civilians in a series of revenge attacks.
The Kenyan soldiers in the UN-backed AU force has intensified their offensive against the Al-Qaida allied terror group Al-Shabaab, pacifying some of the areas in southern Somalia amid reports the militants were now headed to regions near the border with Kenya.
