MANDERA, Kenya, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least two Kenyan soldiers were killed on Wednesday in a shootout with police officers in Mandera county near Somali border.
North Eastern Regional Commissioner Mohamud Saleh and head of the Rural Border Patrol Unit (RBPU) Nguyo Wambua confirmed the incident, saying the soldiers were killed during a "friendly fire" with RBPU officers.
"There was confusion because the soldiers thought the RBPU officers were armed bandits but by the time they realized, there were injuries. We can not understand how the KDF officers mistook our team for armed bandits," Wambua said.
Saleh had earlier said the soldiers who were heading to Mandera mistakenly attacked officers attached to the RBPU, a combined team of security officers who patrol the porous border near Lafey.
