•An unknown number of police officers including Tigania East sub county commander Emmanuel Kiplagat were injured in the clash with bandits.
•Kiplagat sustained a gunshot wound in the shoulder during the confrontation and is currently recuperating at a local hospital, police said.
Image: Handout
A mission to reclaim stolen cows ended tragically on Friday when one person was shot and killed in Doldol, Laikipia County.
Several police officers, including Tigania East sub-county commander Emmanuel Kiplagat, were injured in the clash with bandits.
Kiplagat was leading the operation to retrieve livestock stolen from Matabithi, Meru County, three weeks ago when the bandits attacked, resulting in the death of the man and injuries to multiple officers.
The deceased is believed to be the owner of the stolen animals.
Kiplagat sustained a gunshot wound in the shoulder during the confrontation and is currently recovering in a local hospital, according to police.
Along with other injured officers, they were later airlifted to Nairobi for medical attention, as per police reports.
Police said the operation began at Tassia Hills and after recovering 300 cows and pushed them for around three hours the team was attacked on the way and the bandits managed to get back with the cattle.
Elsewhere, a special operations team based at Archers Police Post while conducting their routine operation on March 15, 2024 at Sero Longai Village, Samburu East at recovered 18 heads of cattle previously stolen in Meru County.
During the recovery, a fierce exchange ensued between the security team and in the process, the suspected morans damaged the radiator of police lorry.
The security team recovered an AK-47 rifle, along with 23 rounds of ammunition, and three TECNO mobile phones from the gunmen.
The recovered items were promptly returned to their rightful owners.
However, the mobile phones were submitted to the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) for further investigation.
The area is among those affected by banditry amid ongoing operations. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has been leading the operations in the area vowing to end the menace.
Kindiki said cattle rustling in Northern Kenya has over the years become an organised criminal enterprise responsible for deaths, poverty and displacement.
“Its impacts are severe. It deprives pastoral communities of their economic mainstay and aggravates the conditions of poverty in the rangelands, fuelling communal grievances and revenge attacks,” he said.
To dismantle the infrastructure of cattle rustlers and facilitators he said, the government is sustaining the war on banditry and its perpetrators, enablers, benefactors and beneficiaries by making banditry a painful venture, ensuring recovery of stolen livestock and rewarding facilitators of recoveries.