Military denies reports of extrajudicial killings in Mandera
What you need to know:
KDF Spokesperson said that the force’s primary mission was to deter external aggression and provide aid to civil authority as stipulated in the Constitution.
The military challenged those with evidence of its involvement in the killings and disappearances to provide it to the relevant authorities.
Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson David Obonyo on Monday denied reports that soldiers were involved in extra-judicial killings.
Colonel Obonyo said an investigation into the matter would be launched soon.
“KDF is not involved in any disappearances or extra-judicial killings in Mandera or anywhere else in this country,” said Col Obonyo.
He added that the force’s primary mission was to deter external aggression and provide aid to civil authority as stipulated in the Constitution.
“The Ministry of Defence, therefore, wishes to remind the public that KDF is a professional force that observes and adheres to international law and respects the dignity of life,” he said.
The military challenged those with evidence of its involvement in the killings and disappearances to provide it to the relevant authorities.
“As a matter of fact, KDF is ready and willing to cooperate with any authorised institution or agency investigating the allegations,” he said of the graves found around the scene of the November 2014 terrorist attack where 28 bus passengers were shot dead by Al-Shabaab militants.
Only one of the bodies exhumed by Monday evening was a woman’s.
It also had a gunshot wound to the back of the skull.
