Armed bandits went on the offensive against the joint police-military operation in the North Rift on Sunday, March 5, after officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) fished them out of their hideouts using bombs.
Speaking to the press, Baringo County Commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa confirmed the daytime attack that saw bandits raid Seretion village in Mochongoi ward, Baringo South Constituency.
In the attack, a police reservist sustained a gunshot wound while the criminals drove away to Korkoron Hills with more than 200 heads of cattle.
The bandits' retaliation was sparked by bombs that rocked their hideouts on Friday, March 3. Residents in the area reported presence of military helicopters dropping bombs on the bandits’ hideouts in Kalemng’orok.
The security forces in the area included the National Police Service (NPS), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and National Police Reservists (NPR) under ‘Operation Komesha Uhalifu North Rift’.
The development came in the wake of escalating tension as hostile communities fought for grazing territory and dwindling water sources for their livestock.
Previously, governors and lawmakers - a majority of whom were drawn from the affected regions - called on the government to ratify KDF's takeover from the police working to quell fighting in the region.
The team argued that the police had faced a stiff battle that led to the loss of troops and did little in ending the skirmishes.
Earlier, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki put some leaders from the troubled North Rift region on the spot for supporting banditry when he appeared before the Senate’s National Cohesion Committee chaired by MP for Marsabit, Mohammed Chute on March 1.
He insisted that there would be more troop deployment noting, “We will deploy more troops and set up a permanent security installation to protect the place. I have the support of the President to ensure his administration delivers the country from this shame. I want to assure you that this administration will end banditry in Kenya.”
Residents have been fleeing from the affected regions to save their lives even as criminals continued to mount several counter-attacks against security personnel.
Some local leaders, however, put the government to task concerning collateral damage done to innocent civilians and their property.
The Governor for Turkana, Jeremiah Lomorukai, condemned incidences of collateral damage. He noted that the government should not hurt civilians in its quest to bring sustainable peace to the region.
