Motorcycle Gang Attacks Police Officers in Ruai, Steal 2 AK-47 Rifles

Two police officers have been seriously wounded they were attacked by a gang of motorcycle riding men while on patrol duties in Ruai, Nairobi.

The attackers reportedly descended on the officers at around 1am on Tuesday, inflicting life threatening head and hand injuries on the police officers before escaping with two AK-47 rifles loaded with 60 rounds of ammunition.

According to reports, members of the public rushed the injured officers to Reale Hospital in Utawala, where they were admitted for treatment.

The attack saw the police mount a major operation as the authorities seek to recover the firearms and arrest the suspects.

The officers were identified as Corporals John Maritim and Felistus Tuitoek.

The brazen attack comes weeks after one officer died and a police firearm stolen after a gang armed with crude weapons attacked officers manning a county government access barrier in Likoni, Mombasa.

The incident reportedly happened in the early hours of Monday 26 October.

Mombasa County Police Commander Stella Jerono confirmed the attack, explaining that officers from both the county government's enforcement unit and the administrative police service were targeted.

"The officers who are here were officers from the county government of Mombasa enforcement and two police officers from the administrative police service. And they were attacked by a number of people whose aim or reason for attack is not known," she said.

According to a police report filed at Inuka Police Station, the attack occurred at around 3:40am along Barabara ya Mchanga, roughly three kilometres west of the station, at a checkpoint used for cess collection in Likoni Sub-County.

A duty officer on patrol in the area heard gunshots coming from the checkpoint and rushed to the scene with colleagues.

They found Corporal George Odera and fellow officer Wilfred Amin, who had been manning the checkpoint alongside a team from Mombasa County's enforcement unit, under attack from an unknown number of armed assailants.

The officers reportedly fired several rounds into the air in an attempt to scare off the attackers, but were quickly overwhelmed.

In the ensuing struggle, the gang snatched a rifle from Officer Amin after inflicting deep cuts to his hand and shooting him in the left thigh.

The stolen weapon, an AK-47 rifle loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition, remains missing.