2 KDF soldiers, GSU officer injured in shootout with bandits
Security personnel during a patrol in Samburu County, where bandits attacks have been common.
Three security personnel are nursing serious gunshot injuries after a fierce encounter with bandits in Pura, Samburu West on Friday evening.
Reports indicated that two Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers and a General Service Unit (GSU) officer were on a regular patrol when bandits attacked their armoured vehicles in Lkeek Sabuk in Samburu West Constituency.
"The security officers were ambushed by armed bandits who opened fire," a reliable source told Nation.Africa, adding they were airlifted to Nairobi for further medical attention.
Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, Dr Abdi Hassan, confirmed the attack in a phone interview.
"There was a fierce shootout between security officers and bandits this evening,” he said, adding he would give more details after a briefing.
Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda, in a social media post, wished the ambushed officers a quick recovery.
"... the bandits continue, with impunity, to terrorise the residents of Samburu West," she wrote on Facebook.
As the operation to flush out bandits in Samburu continues, gun-slinging criminals have continued to defy authorities and wreak havoc in villages in Samburu West Constituency.
Over the past few days, armed bandits have carried out daring attacks in Pura, Nolkerra, Lkeik-Sabuk, Ndikir and Tinga villages, driving away hundreds of livestock.
The latest incident took place on Thursday, when suspected bandits hit Tinga village in Samburu West and stole livestock from three homes.
The animals were found after interventions by National Police Reservists (NPR) and other security forces.
A section of Samburu West, Lorroki and Malaso divisions is among those placed under A dusk-to-dawn curfew as police teams, backed by the military, move to pacify the area.
