Kenya: Roadside bomb explodes killing extremist planting it

NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan police official says an Islamic extremist died in Kenya's north when a roadside bomb he was planting exploded.

Suleiman Rashid, a senior officer in the northern town of Mandera, said Saturday that officers on patrol came across five suspected members of Somalia's al-Shabab extremist group planting a roadside bomb.

Rashid said the officers shot at the suspected rebels who panicked and detonated the bomb killing one insurgent while the others escaped.

Mandera has experienced several attacks in this month that officials attribute to a group that has splintered from al-Shabab, who are allied to al-Qaida, and have instead pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight the Islamic extremists.