A police officer in Marsabit was on Thursday killed after an ambush by armed bandits in the Malgis area.
According to a police report, the officers were on board two lorries, escorting cattle before the armed men ambushed the police vehicles along Marsabit-Isiolo road.
The officers retaliated but were overwhelmed by the armed gunmen. Following the shootout, one officer was killed and three others were injured in the process.
"On further enquiries it was established that at around 1600 hrs the officers who were on escort duties to Merile and upon reaching the scene of the incident were sprayed with bullets after which they reacted but they were overwhelmed," read part of the police report.
The bandits drove away 25 herds of cattle that were being transported and managed.
"The officers spent a total of 20 rounds of 7.62mm but two G3 rifles belonging to the deceased and the injured officer were missing," the police report noted.
Officers from the Loglogo Police Station rushed to the scene of the incident.
The injured officers were taken to Laisamis Catholic Mission Hospital while the body of the deceased was taken to Marsabit Referral Hospital mortuary.
The incident comes in the wake of the government's efforts to eliminate banditry in the North Rift region.
Recently, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki issued a shoot-to-kill order on the bandits in the troubled Baringo County, promising to rid the region of the few criminal elements who terrorize innocent residents.
"Any criminal who will try to use a weapon to shoot or try to harm a police officer, will go on a one-way trip. We will buy him a ticket on a journey where you don't come back," he noted.
