Three security officers have died during an ambush carried out by bandits within the Laikipia Nature Conservancy, Laikipia County.
The Wednesday evening attack also left two officers critically injured.
Confirming the incident, Rift Valley Regional Commander Fred Ochieng’ said that four officers deployed to rescue their colleagues were also injured after their personnel courier vehicle was involved in an accident within the Laikipia Nature conservancy.
The six injured officers have been airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment.
The Government, led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’I moved to the volatile area to restore calm in October after more than 15 people were killed and an estimated 400 families displaced, and hundreds of livestock in Ol-Moran and Githiga wards in Laikipia County due to recurrent banditry attacks and cattle rustling.
The Government also directed all non-residents of designated troubled Laikipia County to vacate the area with immediate effect in an effort aimed at enhancing security in the region.
During the same month, the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi directed the House Departmental Committee on Security and Administration to look into the issue of insecurity in Laikipia and table a report in 60 days.
The move by the Speaker came amid a petition by Laikipia residents requiring Parliament to investigate the banditry attacks and provide a lasting solution to the perennial skirmishes.
The National Government also re-affirmed its commitment towards the resettling of families in troubled areas displaced by banditry attacks.
Laikipia County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said that the Government had put into place elaborate measures to ensure re-building of houses that were torched by arsonists to enable the victims return back to their homes.
He added that an assortment of building materials has already been delivered and that the process of re-constructing the houses was underway noting that at least 40 families have been earmarked in the programme.
