KTN ATTACKED BY BANDITS

KTN News equipment was fired at by armed bandits in Laikipia during the filming of a news report for the station’s prime time bulletin.

The team, led by the station’s senior reporter Ibrahim Karanja had sought to film the bandits while in hideout using a drone.

In the initial stages, the drone captured the armed bandits grazing livestock while holding tight onto their guns.

When they noticed the drone hovering around them, one man tried to stone the drone before another pointed a gun at it and opened fire.

“The armed herders struggled to hide from our cameras while some, brazenly opened fire with an intention to bring it down,” narrated Karanja.

The herders had for months rained terror on families residing in Laikipia and have been moving towards Baringo County since the National Police Service (NPS) launched an operation in the area.

The attempts by the herders to attack the broadcasters equipment did not bare any fruit.

The bandits have displaced hundreds of locals and left several people dead. According to Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, George Natembeya, the bandits have sophisticated weapons that are in some cases more superior to those used by the police service.

“While our officers are using AK47 and G3 rifles, the bandits (in Laikipia) are using M16s and other heavy machinery, which are usually used by foreign armies who come for training in Kenya. We don’t know how they get these heavy weapons,” stated Natembeya, while speaking to press.

Since an operation was launched in the area, however, relative calmness and peace has been restored with 16 schools that had closed over the skirmishes re-opening.

Interior CS Fred Matiang’i is also leading an exercise to help families that lost their homes rebuild them.

By Kenyans.co.ke