Daring Bandits Raid Area Near KDF Chopper Crash, Engage Police in Gun Battle

Residents of the Kaben area where the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) chopper carrying the late Chief of Defence Forces Francis Ogolla crashed, are living in fear following a daring bandit attack on Friday, April 19. 

According to reports, the bandits staged the attack just a stone's throw away from where the ill-fated chopper crashed and tried to drive away the unknown number of livestock. 

The residents raised the alarm prompting the security officers who were on the ground to engage them in a gun battle. 

Preliminary reports indicate that the officers engaged them in the gunfight before they disappeared into the forest. 

Following their intervention, they managed to repulse the attack and rescue the livestock targeted by the daring bandits.

By the time of this publication, the national police service had not revealed if there were any casualties reported during the attack.

The bandit attack came when police officers and other investigators were piecing together information regarding the chopper crash that claimed the life of CDF Ogolla and nine other military officers.

President William Ruto had called for a thorough probe into the cause of the tragic chopper accident which left the country in deep sorrows.

Part of the mission of the KDF soldiers who died in the crash was to evaluate the security status in the area before the school's reopening.

The late CDF was also visiting troops under the Maliza Uhalifu programme in the North Rift.