Suspected bandits attacked a Mercy Corps( Non Governmental Organization) vehicle that was carrying officers who were coming from a peace training in Turkwel at Lami Nyeusi area along the Kitale-Lodwar highway yesterday evening.
The bandits laid ambush on the vehicle which was carrying five Mercy Corps Organization staff. One person was seriously injured, and the windscreen of the vehicle was broken.
An eye witness who was in another vehicle some 400 metres away said that the armed bandits stopped the vehicle and started shooting.
“The two armed men approached the vehicle from both sides and when it stopped they opened fire and one officer was injured on the leg,” he said.
He said that one casualty was rushed to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for treatment.
Confirming the incident, Pokot Central Deputy County Commissioner Geoffrey Githinji said the incident happened after police officers who were escorting vehicles from Turkwel had passed the area.
“The police were on the road but the bandits attacked the vehicle after realizing that the officers had passed and reached Marich,” he said.
Mr Githinji pointed out that the security team will beef up security along the road by escorting all vehicles plying the road.
The Deputy County Commissioner said police officers are pursuing the bandits in the area. “Police officers have been deployed in the area. We shall integrate patrols with KPR to intensify the patrols, and we shall start doing full patrols along the road,” he said “The perpetrators of the crime must be flushed out.”