Gov’t imposes dusk to dawn curfew in Mandera

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has declared a dusk to dawn curfew in Mandera County.

Nkaissery imposed the 2-month curfew beginning Thursday till December 27th saying Mandera County residents will be required to be indoors by 6:30pm to 6:30am daily.

The curfew will affect residents in Mandera Town, Omar Jillo, Arabia, Fino, Lafey Kotulo, Elwak and the environs extending to twenty kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia Border.

This comes in the wake of a deadly terror attack that left 12 people dead and ten others injured after suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen attacked a lodging in Mandera Town on Monday night.

Anti-terror police have also arrested Abdirahman Bishar, the caretaker of Bishaaro Lodge where the attack took place.

Bishar has now been detained for ten days pending a probe on the matter after a Mandera court allowed police to remand him as investigations continue.

This comes even as landlords within the area evict non-locals for fear of victimization and loss that comes with it. They are now demanding that security be beefed up in the area.

Meanwhile, families of the deceased continue to go to the Chiromo Mortuary to identify the bodies.

President Uhuru Kenyatta who cancelled his trip to Angola for the Great Lakes Security Summit has summoned all the 47 county commissioners today (Thursday) to hold a security meeting at State House Nairobi to discuss the country’s security situation.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on Tuesday, North Eastern Regional Coordinator Amb Mohamud Saleh however ruled out direct involvement of Al-Shabaab militants, saying preliminary investigations showed that the 3.00 am attack was carried out by radicalized criminal gangs operating within Mandera Town who used Improvised Explosive Devices to blow up a section of the hotel.

Those killed include 11 men and one woman.