Five Kenyan security officers killed in suspected al-Shabaab attack near Somalia border
An IED ambush in Mandera County killed five officers July 28, including four of the elite Special Operations Group, when their patrol vehicle struck a suspected roadside bomb; al-Shabaab claimed the attack. The established cross-border spillover pattern: Kenya conflict held at -3 with confidence up. Separately, Ruto's July 21 'graduated from protesters to goons' crackdown rhetoric is flagged as a civil-liberties direction signal (no wire pickup).