Death toll of police killed in Samburu rises to 42

Red Cross employees point at Suguta Valley [Photo:Standard]

 

By Michael Saitoti

The death toll of police officers killed by cattle rustlers in Baragoi, Samburu rose to 42 after more bodies were found in Suguta Valley on Monday.

In what is reported to be the worst single attack on the police since Independence, 12 bodies were found on Monday, 19 were picked on Sunday and 11 on Saturday. Two senior inspectors are still missing and their fate remains unknown.

There is fear that some of the bodies may not be found as they might have been eaten by hyenas roaming the vast plains.

Nine survivors who were injured in the ambush are in hospital.

Suguta Valley is billed as one of the driest areas in Kenya, and is literally a death trap given its rugged topography, that takes police about ten hours to surmount on either side or the experienced raiders just about three hours.

Armed bandits over the weekend raided at Lomerok area in Baragoi, Samburu North District at 4am and stole livestock.

Witnesses and survivors said the officers were aboard a police lorry pursuing hundreds of cattle that had been robbed from herders in the area when they were ambushed.

Apparently, the attackers hid in thickets as their accomplices drove the animals ahead and sprayed the police truck with bullets using “sophisticated” weapons, said a senior police officer.

It was then that some of the officers escaped from the scene with injuries. It is not clear if they managed to shoot back.

By the time they received reinforcement, the attackers had left the scene with the stolen animals.

The government dispatched two police helicopters while another team of officers was mobilised on the ground to pursue the attackers who are believed to be from Turkana.