Zadock Angira
26 November 2011
Security forces repulsed an attack by suspected militants in Mandera on Friday night.
North Eastern police boss Leo Nyongesa said his officers had intelligence reports that armed militants had planned to attack Arabia APs’ post in Laffey District, Mandera County.
The officers sought reinforcements beforehand from the Kenya Army.
The militants were overpowered when they struck. An AK-47 rifle was recovered after their escape.
On Thursday night, there were simultaneous attacks at Kwa Chege restaurant near the Garissa District headquarters offices and at a shopping centre along Ngamia road.
After the incident, a joint security team swung into action and immediately imposed a curfew within the town.
Residents later claimed that they were harassed arbitrarily by the security agents, a thing that prompted five MPs from the North Eastern Province to condemn the attacks and the manner in which the state security agents responded.
The MPs also urged the police to promptly and impartially investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators to book.
The leaders said that any security operation should seek to minimise civilian casualties and avoid deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians.
The five politicians said this while addressing a press conference at Parliament Buildings.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe on Saturday said that all operations were only targeting combatants and not civilians.
Leaders from the affected areas have also condemned what they term arbitrary detention and mistreatment in the entire province, where some individuals were detained solely on the basis of their Somali appearance.
However, Armed Forces spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna dismissed claims that the Kenyan troops were harassing people in northern Kenya following attacks on troops in the area.
“Troops do not go out without rules of engagement … Our duty is to protect the country and its citizens and that is what we are doing,” said Col Oguna.
Mr Kiraithe assured the public that nobody would be harassed in the ongoing security operation.
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