• Gunmen suspected to be from Toposa in South Sudan had attacked Atapar village prompting a shootout.
• The area is near the porous Kenya-South Sudan border.
Image: NPS/X
A suspected raider was shot and killed in a botched cattle rustling incident in Kibish, Turkana county.
Two herders were shot and injured in the clash on Sunday evening, police said.
Gunmen suspected to be from Toposa in South Sudan had attacked Atapar village, prompting resistance from herders assisted by officials from the National Police Reserve, police said.
The area is near the porous Kenya-South Sudan border and it usually experiences such attacks.
The injured were taken to Loblono Health Centre before being referred to Lodwar Teaching and Referral Hospital for specialist care.
Police said no livestock were stolen but other raiders escaped.
Last month, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki commissioned the first batch of modern security equipment to enhance operations in the area affected by the cattle rustling.
It included Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) and Armoured Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
The Operation Maliza Uhalifu in the North Rift was launched in February 2023, following continuous violent activity by the bandits.
The operation is led by police forces and supported by the military in a multi-agency security team that also consists of the National Police Reservists-volunteers operating as supplementary forces within their communities.
Kindiki visited the area last month and announced the security situation in Turkana county has considerably improved since the commencement of Operation Maliza Uhalifu.
The recruitment, training and deployment of National Police Reservists has also significantly augmented the efforts of the formed-up units of the security agencies and resulted to normalcy on the Kitale-Lodwar highway and other areas in Turkana that were experiencing insecurity.
However, according to Kindiki, occasional attacks in the areas contiguous to the Turkana-West Pokot border and at a few points near Kenya's border with Uganda and South Sudan remain an outstanding assignment, which the government aims to address.