2 Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers were killed and several more injured after a shootout with police officers on Wednesday in Mandera.
The police were responding after the soldiers mistook them for bandits and opened fire at Sheikh Barrow.
Nduku Wambua, the officer in charge of the unit the police officers were attached to, questioned how the soldiers mistook them for bandits.
“We cannot understand how the KDF officers mistook our team for armed bandits because they were in a known camp complete with government vehicles which could be identified,” he stated.
Wambua, the officer in charge of the Rural Border Patrol Unit in Kitui County, further described the shootout as 'friendly fire'.
[caption caption="Police officers"]
[/caption]
KDF had at the time of going to press, failed to offer more details as to how it began.
Lafey Deputy County Commissioner Charles Mbulishe dismissed it as a case of mistaken identity.
“The incident happened at Sheikh Barrow. I believe it was a case of mistaken identity,” he noted.
In December, 3 KDF soldiers died and several others were injured after a military lorry overturned along Elwak-Kotulo-Wajir road in Mandera.
The officers were in a convoy heading to Mandera from Wajir.
[caption caption="Police officers stationed at Uhuru Park"]
[/caption]
