A primary school in the troubled Laikipia county region was on Tuesday afternoon set on fire by suspected bandits. This was barely a day after the National Security Advisory Council moved in to declare the volatile Laikipia nature conservancy and its environs as a security operation zone.
After torching the school, the armed bandits engaged security forces in a shoot out as they headed back to a nearby valley. Journalists and a host of local leaders who had gone to the school to assess the situation were caught up in the shoot out. The attack took place even as rift valley regional coordinator George Natembeya launched a security operation about four kilometres away in Ol moran town. Natembeya said while security forces were using Ak-47 and G3 rifles, the bandits are using heavy and sophisticated firearms. Six people have so far lost their lives to the clashes in the last two weeks.
