NAIROBI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday vowed to step up fight against terrorism, hours after five soldiers were killed and 10 others injured in an explosive attack in the coastal Lamu region.
Kenyatta, who sent his condolences to the bereaved and the injured, said the war against terrorism must be won jointly.
"Let me take this opportunity to state categorically, that we will not relent in protecting the Kenyan people and our borders. My government will work tirelessly in ensuring that the war against terrorism is won," he said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
Kenya Defence Force (KDF) spokesman Paul Njuguna had earlier said the incident took place after the soldiers who were on a humanitarian civil assignment to fetch and distribute water to the local residents in the area hit an improvised explosive device (IED) along the Kiunga and Sankuri road.
The IED is suspected to have been planted by Somali al-Shabab militants who continue to wreak havoc in the region.
The latest IED attack comes barely a month after six soldiers died in a similar manner after their vehicle ran over an IED at a local bridge area in Lamu on Aug. 8.
The KDF are currently in year four of a security operation dubbed Linda Boni which was launched by the national government in a bid to flush out al-Shabab militants said to be hiding inside the dense Boni forest and neighboring areas in Lamu.
