The government will modernise KDF and police artillery in a renewed move to end al Shabaab attacks in Kenya and in Somalia, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said.
He said the government will in the next three months buy sophisticated equipment to help the police and the Kenya Defense Forces fight militants.
The equipment will include sophisticated armoured personal carriers with ability to detect improvised explosive devices along the areas under their command.
Duale said the government will not allow terrorists to attack any part of the country. The CS said the government will not be intimidated.
The CS was speaking during a baraza in Masalani town, Garissa county, after meeting elders and community leaders over security matters.
Duale also ordered all National Government Administration Officers to either stay at their duty posts or quit.
Interior and National administration PS Raymond Omollo, who accompanied the CS, said officials who do not stay at their duty posts must quit.
The PS called for collaboration between local communities and security officials in the fight against terrorism in the country.
Th PS said his main job is to keep all Kenyans and their property safe and that he will endeavour to do so.
Elders who spoke at the baraza pledged to work with the government in the war on terror.
The elders said they will not be chased away from their homes by terrorists who have continued to attack security officers on patrol along the roads.
Ahmed Yusuf Ali, another elder warned the residents against sympathising with the terrorists. He urged them to instead report any suspicious persons to the security officials.
At least 22 officers have died in the last two weeks in Garissa and Lamu counties. Last Thursday, one suspected al Shabaab terrorist was arrested along the Garissa-Dadaab road by a multi-agency team.
At the weekend, two Kenya Defence Forces officers were killed as they responded to an attack on a General Service Unit team in Lamu.
Twenty other officers were injured. Of the 20, 12 were GSU officers, while the rest were KDF soldiers.
Recently, at least 15 security officers were killed in separate attacks in Lamu and Garissa counties.
Nine years ago, terrorists attacked Mpeketoni and surrounding areas, killing 90 people and displaced many.
Al Shabaab terrorists have been attacking places in the region, especially Mandera and Garissa counties.
They have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies. They also target development projects like roads.
