Security officers rescued four people, among them two Italian women who were being held hostage at Witu Forest, Lamu County in a police operation that took place on Wednesday night.
The operation involved officers from the General Service Unit (GSU), Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
The incident occurred at around 5:45 pm when the GSU officers were travelling to Mokowe and encountered a roadblock set up by approximately 10 suspected Al Shabaab militia members who were disguised as KDF officers.
Upon noticing the security vehicles, the gunmen fired at the officers, who took cover and responded with gunfire, causing the criminals to flee into the forest.
The officers requested reinforcement from the RDU-Nyaatha, GSU-Kasakairu, Special Operations Group (SOG)- Nyangoro, and KDF.
During the operation, the police were able to rescue the four hostages and recover two bodies from a lorry.
Another car and motorcycle were also found at the scene. It is unclear what the suspected Al Shabaab militia’s motivations were for setting up the roadblock and holding the hostages.
The police recovered a car with gunshot damage and no occupants, as well as a burnt motorcycle with no visible registration number or owner.
This comes just days after suspected Al Shabaab gunmen attacked a village in Lamu, killed two people and torched several houses.
According to the police, a group of attackers invaded Taa village, located several miles from the tourist destination of Lamu town.
They targeted homes in a coordinated manner. During the night, the attackers were confronted by Kenya Police Reservists in a gunfight.
Coast regional commissioner John Elungata stated that attackers were eventually repelled.