Seven officers killed in Kapenguria Police Station siege

At least seven police officers were killed in a hostage situation that lasted for over nine hours at the Kapenguria Police Station in West Pokot County.

A police officer alleged to have shot at his colleagues in a bid to flee a gunman, who opened fire from within the police station, was also killed.

On Thursday morning, a man alleged to be a teacher from a nearby school and identified as Omar Eumond, reportedly snatched a gun from one of the police officers manning the station and started shooting indiscriminately at the cops.

The man was reportedly arrested over suspicions of being a member of the Al Shabaab terror group and was also accused of secretly recruiting youth from the area into the militia group.

The police elite squad, Recce, was deployed to the police station to deal with the situation and after hours of standoff with the shooter, they opened fire killing the officer alleged to have shot at his colleagues in a bid to rescue the gunman.

The Recce unit also lost one of its members during the shootout.

North Rift Regional Coordinator, Wanyama Musyambu, condemned the incident saying that security has been beefed up in the area and other parts of the region.

The siege caught the attention of the Senate, with Senators calling on the government to bolster security in government offices as well as enhance police training.

Samuel Ramtu contributed to this report