A sentry from the Kenya Defence Forces used a submachine gun to kill a camel that 'ignored' a stop order at a border point in Mandera County.
The soldier is reported to have used, among other weapons, the semi-automatic gun made M240B after noticing a suspicious figure approaching a post that he was guarding on Friday night.
According to the Occurrence Book (OB) report from Rhamu Police Station, number 16 of April 3, 2026, titled ' shooting incident report,' the incident took place at Towfiq Trading Centre in Rhamu sub-county, where a Chinese road construction site is located.
A platoon from KDF is stationed there to provide security and guard against attacks from Al Shabaab militants who often cross into the Kenyan side of the border from neighbouring Somalia to carry out daring attacks on civilians and security infrastructure.
At around 11:15 pm, the report said a sentry personnel manning the post identified as Platoon Five, Squad One, observed a 'suspicious' but 'unannounced' movement approximately 50 metres from the entrance of the main camp.
"Due to poor visibility, the sentry challenged the approaching figure using the standard password procedure, but no response was received," the report read in part.
It added, "the soldier was then forced to fire warning shots ( usually in the air) using personal weapons ( like a rifle) and thereafter followed a few bursts from an M240B machine gun".
The next morning, after the area was declared safe, a camel lay dead about 10 meters from the main gate.
Strangely, police officers who visited the scene reported that the camel had sustained a single gunshot wound to the head.
The owner of the stray camel has not yet been identified.