At least 283 new National Police Reservists graduated at an event in Garissa, boosting operations in the region plagued by terror threats.
Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat presided over the event on Thursday.
He urged the group to be disciplined and uphold integrity. He said the graduation was a boost for security operations in the region.
Lagat pledged to continue with the operations in the region to address terrorism threats.
“We are investing in this project of NPR and other areas to ensure we boost operations here and elsewhere,” he said.
The region has been facing numerous crimes including terrorism and smuggling of humans and goods.
The move to graduate the group came hours after two reservists were killed in an explosion at the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera.
Two others were injured in the explosion which happened at the Kenya-Somalia border at Point Four’s Kulun area at about 6 pm on Wednesday January 14. The scene borders the troubled Bullahawa of Somalia. Police said the NPR officers were on duty at the scene when the explosion went off. It is believed the explosion was set up by members of the Somalia National Army who are operating in the area out of retaliation to a similar incident where their members were killed last year, officials said.
SNA has been fighting militias in the area over the control of the town. They are in charge of the border.
The NPR were on duty at the site when the Improvised Explosive Device went off. It killed NPR corporal Mohamed Issack and constable NPR Abdirashid Shabbellow. Two others were injured and rushed to the hospital in critical condition, police said. A team of experts who visited the scene said the IED was planted at the place where the NPR operates and that a destroyed mobile phone was recovered at the scene.
It had a Somalia simcard and is being analyzed for more information. A second bomb was later detonated by experts who visited the scene. The scene was cleared and the bodies subjected to an autopsy before they were released to the families for burial, police said. Police use NPRs to patrol the area near the border.
They are trained before being armed and deployed. The area has been experiencing instability from infighting between the Somalia security agencies and al Shabaab terror group.
For instance, gunmen believed to be al Shabaab militants shot into a police camp in Elram, Kotulo, Mandera County in what many believed to be a probing mission.
This is the latest such incident to happen in the area in the past months amid fears the terror group plans to overrun a police camp for weapons and send a message.
On Wednesday January 14 at night the militia fired a Rocket Propelled Grenade into the Elram Anti Stock Theft Unit. It exploded near the camp defence and was followed by a rapid fire from PKM and AK47 rifles, police said.
The team present fired back and repulsed the gang which escaped. No injuries were reported.
Police said they believe the gang is roaming the area with a mission to strike at a security installation.
The operations teams have since been put on alert and told to be ready for fight with the gangs.
Clearing teams collected dozens of spent cartridges from the scene.
The gangs have in the past two weeks stolen a police car after shooting and seriously wounded a police driver.
Many believe some of these incidents happen out of help by locals and some insiders. Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of President Siad Barre’s military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.
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