BY ADOW JUBAT
Four Kenya police officers were injured; three of them seriously
by armed Somali gun men in a dusk attacks on Tuesday in the insecurity prone
Dadaab district of North-Eastern region bordering the war-ravaged Somalia.
The attack which is the fifth in span of a week, in
North-Eastern region bordering war-ravaged Somalia targeting the Kenya security
personnels, occurred at War-diiglow (The dam of blood) some 45 Kilometers from
Somalia border.
The attack comes barely a day after about thirty people were
injured in Improvised Explosive Device attack in capital city of Nairobi on
Monday by suspected members of the Somali Islamist Group, Al-Shabaab.
On Saturday night, twin separate hand grenade attacks in a border
towns of Dadaab and Wajir left six civilians sustain injured. Early, two
military officers were injured after their vehicle came under attack in Mandera
border point one neighboring Somalia.
Confirming the incident, the North-Eastern regional police Chief
Mr. Leo Nyongesa said suspected Somali armed bandits ambushed the police
officers, who were returning to their base in Libio border point after scouting
buses heading Nairobi.
He said the bandits where terrorizing the motorist plying
the Libio- Garissa-Nairobi route on Tuesday morning paralyzing transport after erecting
a mobile round blocks and attempted to hijack buses before the police who were
informed by the member of the public responded quickly and provided armed
security to vehicles using the road.
He said “The suspected Somali armed bandits numbering over
ten took the road to Libio which usually is busy way at War-diiglow area and
started harassing passengers and motorist in bid to hijack the bus leading to
the intervention of our security officers”.
“When our officers were told of the criminals activities on
our highway they responded swiftly, but the bandits escaped before our soldiers
caught up with them. The officers provided security scouts to the motorist up
to Dadaab which is 65 Kilometers from Libio, but on their returned to Libio
they were ambushed by the bandits injuring four” he added when speaking to Frontierleaks
in Garissa town.
He said the officers were returning to their station in Libio
at night after scouting the buses and the bandits ambushed them near a road depression
where the car had to slow down and located the movement of the police car with
its flashlights before spraying bullets indiscriminately on the unsuspecting
officers.
The regional police boss said “in the ensuing fire fight between
our soldiers and the criminals four of our men and several from the assailant
side were injured and now we are pursuing them with marks of the blood stains
of the injured bandits seemingly carried by their colleagues”
He said the injured officers were later rushed to Dadaab
district hospital where they are undergoing treatment and there are plans to
airlift the three seriously wounded officers to Nairobi memory hospital.
“One of the officers who sustained minor injuries was
treated and already discharged. The others three colleagues who sustained abdominal,
Leg and hands injuries and who require an advanced treatment due to their conditions
of their injuries will be airlifted to Nairobi shortly” Mr. Nyongesa noted.
The police chief said the security agents are now
investigating claims by some people that the increased attacks in the
North-eastern region could be exacerbated by youths who joined the Transitional
Federal Government soldiers from the region, but who have defectors and run
away with arm.
He said “We cannot conclusively blame the soaring banditry
attacks on our region on the claims that youth from the region who defectors’
from TFG as claimed by some quarters, but as a security agent we always
investigate all angels including this claims”.
He said the Kenya security agency has mounted an extensive combined
aerial and ground operation from all wings of the national security to pursue
the attackers and bring them to book.
ENDS.
No comments:
Post a Comment