The incident occurred at around 5:10 p.m. local time when an estimated eight to ten armed militants approached the Fino Special Operations Group camp from the eastern side, opening fire with rocket-propelled grenades, PKM machine guns, and AK-47 rifles, according to security sources familiar with the operation. The sustained assault triggered an immediate exchange of fire between the attackers and security personnel stationed at the facility.

One RPG struck inside the camp, destroying a toilet block, while two others landed in the nearby Fino Centre trading area, where civilians had gathered at the time, causing panic and a rapid dispersal of residents and traders. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene as people fled in different directions while gunfire echoed across the area.

A police officer sustained a knee injury during the exchange of fire, while two civilians — 18-year-old Umer Dakane Afey and 25-year-old Maulid Farah Hussein — suffered leg and head injuries respectively. Medical personnel at the scene confirmed the injuries were not life-threatening, though both civilians required treatment at a nearby facility.

Mandera County security commanders said reinforcements were dispatched immediately after the attack, with multi-agency units fanning out across Lafey Sub-County to pursue the fleeing militants. 

A senior security officer, speaking in a briefing cited by Diplomat News Network, said the response "restored operational control within the area and prevented further escalation of the attack,” while declining to provide additional operational details.

Local residents described heightened tension in the aftermath, with security patrols intensifying around the trading centre and surrounding settlements. A shopkeeper in Lafey, who witnessed the aftermath, said security forces arrived "within minutes and cordoned off the area as they searched for suspects moving toward the border.”

Lafey Sub-County, which borders Somalia, has previously experienced sporadic militant incursions linked to Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based extremist group that has carried out repeated attacks in the wider Mandera region in recent years, particularly affecting border security posts and transport corridors used by traders and local residents.

Security analysts say the incident underscores persistent vulnerabilities along Kenya’s northeastern frontier, where porous terrain and cross-border movement continue to complicate counterinsurgency operations despite sustained deployment of security personnel and surveillance measures.