Kenya bandits now use guerrilla tactics to counter military, police

NAIROBI, Kenya

Bandits in regions declared as disturbed and dangerous in the Kenyan North are now employing guerrilla tactics to counter military and police offensives in the region, it has been established. 

The tactics have become a depressing pattern for both the police and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops, who are on assignment to crack down on and neutralise the bandits’ activities in the region.

The last week has seen the bandits stage retaliatory attacks in Turkana, Samburu, and Baringo counties, after reports from residents of the military bombing of their hideouts. 

The joint military/police force is facing a nightmare in its effort to trace the criminals, who keep launching deadly attacks when least expected.

In Samburu County, residents told Nation.Africa that armed bandits in groups of two or three, often launch quick-fire attacks across villages and drive away animals. The bandits 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.Africa. 

“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. 

Guerrilla combat involves 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.

In Baringo County, bandits carried out a daytime retaliatory attack in the volatile Seretion village in Mochongoi ward, Baringo South on Sunday, injuring a police reservist and making off with more than 200 head of livestock.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers in a convoy at Marigat in Baringo County on February 17, 2023. A security operation involving the soldiers and police to flush bandits out of the disturbed Kerio Valley region is on.

This was after the joint military-police teams deployed to carry out disarmament in the area bombed the Korkoron and Tandar Hills on Friday morning in a bid to smoke out the bandits. The hills are among the bandits’ hideouts in the region.

In Samburu’s Saturday twin attacks where four people, including two children, were killed, it has been established the attacks were launched simultaneously. Three bandits reportedly attacked Marti village killing two children before driving away livestock. At the same time, witnesses said, two bandits attacked Lolmolok area and killed two herders before driving away goats from the grazing field. 

The bandits are also targeting security troops. 

In Samburu, the bandits have turned Malaso and Kur Kur valleys into their "operation territory" as they continue to mount attacks in the entire Lorroki division of Samburu West. 

Whenever the gun-slinging criminals attack villages in the region, they often drive livestock down the valley, making it impossible for security troops to trace them. The Malaso and Kur Kur valleys are deceptively picturesque from a distance, but beneath them is a bandits' haven. 

The edges of the Rift Valley connecting the Suguta Valley shared in Turkana and parts of Baringo have poor accessibility. The terrain is sharp, rocky and mountainous with thorny shrubs and cacti.

Colonel (Rtd) Moses Kwonyike has attributed the boldness of the armed criminals to elders who perform ritual ceremonies, where organised 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.
Their roles are distinct, with seers and magicians, commonly referred to as werkoi and kapolok respectively, playing different tasks.