A National Police Reservist (NPR) was shot dead on Sunday January 25, 2026 in the afternoon during a cattle raid incident by suspected bandits in Pura, Samburu West.
The incident comes barely a week after another police officer was killed and others injured in a daylight highway bandit attack in Naisunyai area, Samburu East.
Samburu County Police Commander Dickens Njogu, who confirmed the Sunday afternoon attack, said the victim was part of a security team that was responding to the cattle rustling incident in Pura area when they came under fire from heavily armed raiders.
The police boss revealed that the reservist succumbed to gunshot wounds at the scene even as other security forces repelled the attackers.
“The security forces managed to repulse the gunmen, but unfortunately, we lost one police reservist,” Njogu confirmed.
He revealed that security teams drawn from the General Service Unit (GSU), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), and local police reservists were deployed to the area shortly after the incident.
A week earlier, Constable Julius Muthaura, a police Constable was shot dead along with a civilian in a brazen ambush by suspected bandits in Naisunyai, Samburu East.
The gunmen, believed to be rustlers, opened fire on a lorry transporting livestock and escorting officers, killing Muthaura and the civilian and injuring several other police reservists.
The deceased police officer was among officers deployed to provide security to traders and transporters moving livestock from local markets, which have increasingly become targets for bandit attacks.
Witnesses said the attackers took advantage of the open terrain and poor road network in the area to launch the ambush before fleeing into nearby bushes.
The last nine months has been marked as yet another dark period in recent memory for security forces and civilians alike in Samburu County, where armed bandits escalated violence, not just against local communities but directly against police officers in bold and coordinated attacks.
In a series of brazen attacks, heavily armed bandits have previously opened fire on police convoys and security personnel, particularly along the Maralal-Baragoi road, Maralal-Suyan- Baragoi road and Kisima- Wamba roads.
