The National Police Service Special Operations Group (SOG) on Thursday, July 6, neutralised twenty suspected Al-Shabaab militants after a fierce exchange of fire at Ogorwen Location, Mandera County.
The National Police Service stated that the militants attacked the elite squad while on routine patrol in the evening.
"Preliminary investigations indicated that the resulting heavy gunfire exchange between the officers on patrol and the militants left 20 militants fatally injured and eight NPS officers injured.
"As a Service, we commend our Officers for their dedication to duty and reiterate our commitment to enhancing national security.
Police officers recovered assorted weapons from the scene where the Al-Shabaab militants were killed in action.
While addressing the same issue on Thursday, July 6, in Turkana County, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki vowed to crash the Al-Shabaab militants, noting that they had caused a lot of deaths and sufferings to Kenyans.
Kindiki also narrated how a young officer was severely injured in a recent attack that also led to death of some of his colleagues.
It was an overwhelmingly emotional story of how a 23-year-old police officer lost one leg after they were attacked by suspected al-Shabaab militants in Lamu County.
Kindiki explained that, unfortunately, one of the injured officers lost his leg after doctors decided to amputate it in order to save his life following severe damages caused by the gunshots.
"It is very saddening that a young man of 23 years old lost his leg after being attacked by these crooks. I returned from Northern Kenya where I lost a number of police officers after they were attacked.
"I also lost another set of officers who were attacked by Al-Shabaab militants in Lamu County. We will not allow people to met terror on innocent Kenyans," Kindiki stated.
The Cabinet Secretary for Interior also declared Turkana Forest a crime scene and ordered ordinary citizens to leave the place before the government could mount up an operation.
"As such, I'm ordering anyone living or doing any business in Turkana South Forest to vacate with immediate effect. We will only have wildlife or wildlife officers in the forest.
"We have made a firm decision to deal with these criminals and eliminate them completely. We have noticed that they often return to their hideout a few days after an operation by the National Police Service," Kindiki ordered.
Kindiki warned the suspects that the National Police Service had studied their movements and strategies, and established all the tricks they were using to cause damage to people.
"We now know their tricks, and we will take them down," Kindiki warned while ordering police officers to take down any suspected bandits.
