Nairobi, Kenya, May 18 – Security forces deployed in the troubled Marsabit County have vowed to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to crackdown on illegally acquired firearms which are being used by criminal elements to wreak havoc in the Eastern region County.
The pronouncement came in the wake of an existing 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew which was initiated by the government two weeks ago following a spate of attacks in the region.
The frequent attacks have been widely blamed on ethnic conflicts and the proliferation of small and light weapons from Ethiopia which has been embroiled in conflicts.
In a recent interview with journalists, Bernard Mbatha the operation commander said that they had managed to recover some arms since the operation began.
“The 30 days span was only on the curfew, the operation in Marsabit has got no timeframe, the only thing that it has are targets. Unless those targets are met, the operation is here to stay with us,” he said.
Mbatha called on the residents to work together with the security agencies to restore peace and assured them that the security agencies engaged in the operation will operate within the confines of the law while executing their duties.
He expressed optimism that the issue will be resolved in the long run noting that they had made inroads in terms of intelligence which has indicated that some elements are in possession of illegal arms.
Marsabit county Police Commander Paul Rotich on his part attributed the proliferation of illegal arms in the county to the vast and porous border.
“The porosity of the border has actually played a role in enabling firearms inflow into the county. It may take long but I am assuring you that is an area where we are not going to relent, we are going to give our best so that we can address the inflow of the firearms,” he said.
The county police boss said that they will involve all the sub-counties in the peace efforts pointing out that some areas are already voluntarily surrendering their arms before the security agencies come in.
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