Two suspected bandits were shot dead in a clash with police in a village in Loruk, Baringo County.
Police
said the incident happened after a failed robbery of livestock in the area.
A member
of the National Police Reserve who was missing after the drama was found alive on July 7.
He had
been hiding in a thicket after engaging the gunmen in a fierce shootout, police
said.
Police
said the bodies were taken to Kabarnet County mortuary for preservation, awaiting identification and postmortem.
Police
said the other gang members managed to escape without stealing anything from
the village amid tension. There are concerns about further attacks and retaliations.
The area
has experienced a lull in banditry attacks following sustained operations
targeting the gangs behind the trend.
The incidents had
affected development as they drove villagers out of their homes.
In the past days, the
government has employed more members of the NPR as part of efforts to contain the
menace.
The
government announced a new policy shift, which institutionalises the command
structure of the NPR officers, stating they will hence be under the direct
command of the Officer Commanding Police Stations (OCS).
The police have also received more equipment to enhance their patrols and operations in the area.
Interior Cabinet
Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has been leading
the operations in the area, vowing to end the menace.
He 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.
The most affected areas include parts of the North Rift, Marsabit, Isiolo and Meru.
