Kenyan forces to intensify disarmament in Northeastern

Kenyan police have intensified disarmament in northeastern region a bid to enhance security in the region which has porous border with Somalia.

Regional government officials have said the security forces will launch operation to recover illegal weapons which inflow the region.

Northeastern Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said they believe that there is a huge number of illegal firearms in the wrong hands in the three counties, which have faced increased terror attacks from Al-Shabaab militants from Somalia.

“We have dispatched the Kenya Defence Forces to carry out a disarmament exercise in Mandera,” Saleh.

Saleh said the government will not hesitate to use “necessary force” if needed and if “we would not be satisfied with response of the surrender amnesty.”

Saleh lauded the efforts by residents in Garissa, saying those who surrender the illegal weapons in their possession will not be punished or charged in any court of law.

In 2008 the government was forced to use the military to quell bloody clashes that claimed more than 40 people and displaced thousands of other in Mandera-East district residents.

The conflict over natural resources especially access and utilization of the waters of the River Tana has also been contentious for a while, leading to frequent clashes by pastoralists and farmers in the County.