Tension at Kenya,Ethiopia border
Security officers patrol the Lokichogio-Nadapal-Sudan road. Photo/FILE
Security personnel were on Sunday deployed to the Kenya-Ethiopia border following the death of a senior policeman. Merille bandits are said to have shot the General Service Unit Chief Inspector on Friday evening.
The Turkana Regional Commissioner Christopher Musambu said a team of security officers would assess the security situation in the area and effectively deal with the bandits.
“Additional policemen from Lodwar have been deployed to the area to contain acts of aggression by the Merille attackers,” said Mr Musambu.
“The officer was shot dead following a confrontation with the militia who had re-grouped on the common border of the two countries,” he said, adding that the killing was an act of provocation.
The attack occurred after Merille herdsmen were turned away from grazing their animals on Kenya soil. It is then that they re-grouped before staging an attack against Kenyan security forces which lasted for almost four hours.
According to Mr Musambu, six GSU officers who were said to have gone missing after the attack are now safe and further attempted attacks will be dealt with.
“We did not lose any other personnel apart from the senior GSU officer. Casualties on the militia side remain unknown,” said Mr Musumbu.
He said a security meeting between administrators from the two countries would be held on Monday to discuss how to secure the volatile region that has witnessed cross border attacks in the recent past.
The incident follows the killing of two army men and injury of six others early last month by Toposa militia at Nadapal region on the Kenya-Southern Sudan border.
The army men were killed after their truck was hit by a grenade as they returned to Nadapal from Lokichoggio town.
The Kenya Army and Administration Police have set up bases in Nadapal but frequency of clashes between Kenya security forces and the Toposa militia still remains high.
Todonyang region has also experienced recurrent attacks from Ethiopian Merille militia caused by conflict over water and pasture.
