Joint security team facing a nightmare as bandits employ guerrilla tactics
3 min read
Bandits now deploying guerrilla tactics to counter the joint security team comprising the military and the police
Bandits now deploying guerrilla tactics to counter the joint security team comprising the military and the police.
It has been established that bandits in areas of the Kenyan North designated as disturbed and dangerous are now using guerilla tactics to thwart military and police offensives in the area.
Both the police and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) forces, who are tasked with putting a stop to and neutralizing the bandits’ activities in the area, have grown weary of the tactics’ gloomy routine.
Bandits have been staging retaliatory attacks in Turkana, Samburu, and Baringo counties despite heightened security and even military bombing of their hideouts.
The joint military/police force is now facing a nightmare in its effort to trace the criminals, who keep launching deadly attacks when least expected.
According to residents’ accounts, armed bandits in groups of two or three, often launch quick-fire attacks across villages and drive away animals.
They are said to have a “structured command” where they execute twin attacks simultaneously.
“They are not a gang as they used to be previously,” a local police reservist told Nation.
“They always move in manyattas (homesteads) in pairs. The two will be attacking village A in the west, while another two or three will be in village B simultaneously in a different direction,” he said on condition of anonymity due to security reasons.
This makes it difficult for security troops to respond to the attacks, having been launched in a guerilla style.
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Guerrilla warfare entails the use of military tactics such as surprise attacks and ambushes, raids, hit-and-run, and sabotage of vulnerable targets, among others, to fight a larger military force.
The bandits are also said to be targeting security troops.
Whenever they attack villages in the region, they often drive livestock down the valley, making it impossible for security troops to trace them.
The valleys are deceptively picturesque from a distance, but beneath them is a bandits’ haven.
The edges of the Rift Valley also have poor accessibility.
The terrain is sharp, rocky, and mountainous with thorny shrubs and cacti.
The boldness of the armed bandits has also been attributed to elders who perform ritual ceremonies, where organized bandits are intentionally charged and adjured by traditional leaders.
The elders, who involve seers and magicians are highly respected and held in high esteem in the Pokot community, owing to the roles they play in the community.
The elders are believed to predict what will happen through the study of animal intestines, and they can purportedly tell what the bandits will experience when they go out on a raid.
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