Two police officers injured in clash with bandits

Two Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) officers guarding workers installing a Safaricom mast at Lomelo village in Turkana East were on Thursday injured in an ambush by bandits.

Acting Turkana County Police Commander David Mburukuwa said one officer was shot on both legs, while the other was injured on the left side of the neck during the 9am attack.

“RDU officers based at Lomelo responded quickly and repulsed the bandits,” he said.

He noted that a joint reinforcement team comprising of General Duty Personnel, General Service Unit and National Police Reservists have already been deployed at the village to assure locals of heightened security.

Mr Julius Ereng, one of the workers at the installation said that the attackers first targeted the police officers.

Mr Ereng said that they woke up well for their our usual mission to install the mast but at around 9 am gunshots rendered the air.

"We laid on the ground as the officers tried to engage the bandits before they got reinforcement from their colleagues. A bullet proof helmet saved one of the officers after a bullet hit on it before sliding to injure him in the shoulder," he said.

Mr Caxton Edome a resident said that the telecommunication mast was critical for boosting security in the area noting that the attack might be a form of protest from the bandits.

"We really need the mast for mobile phone connectivity so that we also share intelligence information with authorities in case of impending attacks. The State should also recruit police reservists to bolster security." Mr Edome said.

He said that tension is high in the area with transport services between Kapedo and Lomelo currently interrupted due to fear of highway attacks.