Alarm as bandits shoot dead GSU , army officers at Laikipia Conservancy
The main entrance to Laikipia Nature Conservancy in Laikipia West.
Two General Service Unit (GSU) and two Kenya Defence Forces officers were on Wednesday shot dead by armed bandits in Kamwenje area, Laikipia West.
This brings the number of security officers shot dead on Wednesday to 4.
The KDF officers were reportedly digging a trench around Laikipia Nature Conservancy when they were killed by suspected bandits.
In the first attack, a senior GSU inspector also sustained gunshot wounds to the leg in the afternoon attack.
The GSU officers attached to Kamwenje command centre were patrolling Laikipia Nature Conservancy when they were ambushed by the armed bandits. An officer attached to the camp told the Nation that the two succumbed to gunshot wounds they sustained.
"An aerial strike has been launched on the bandits who went to their hideouts in the conservancy after the incident," said the officer.
Rift Valley Regional Police Commander Frederick Ochieng' said that there was a confrontation involving the security officers and suspected bandits.
He did not, however, confirm the number of casualties.
"What I know is that there was a contact involving our officers and suspected bandits on Wednesday afternoon," he said.
The incident comes barely two weeks after three other security officers were attacked and killed by bandits at the vast conservancy. Two others sustained serious gunshot wounds.
Three weeks ago, the government deployed dozens of security forces to the volatile conservancy to flush out bandits and illegal herders.
They were deployed to the region after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i ordered the move to flush out criminals.
However, despite heavy presence including the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, the Rapid Deployment Unit and GSU, banditry attacks continue to happen in the insecurity-hit parts of Laikipia West.
