Law enforcement officers in Lamu county have received landmine and Improvised Explosive Devices awareness training to enable them to enhance their security.
The training, which was conducted by the Centre for Civilians in Conflict (Civic), is also meant to enable the officers prevent and deal more effectively with security incidents in the county.
Civic is an international organisation dedicated to promoting the protection of civilians caught in conflict.
In collaboration with the county at the Kenya Coast Guard Training School in Mokowe, Lamu West, the training will address risks and challenging situations.
The training is also part of a Hostile Environment Awareness Training, which is an immersive security training for the county enforcement team to enable them effectively detect and effectively deal with land mine threats in the region.
It was undertaken by mine experts, led by Civic regional director for East Africa Zlatko Gegic.
Lamu has over the years seen increased mine attacks by al Shabaab militants who target security and civilian vehicles by planting IEDs that have left scores dead.
The unpredictable mine or IED incidents in the county brought to the fore the need for enabling civilians caught in conflict be able to defend themselves when need be.
The training also revealed possible target areas where mines could be planted and how to detect them and successfully deflate them.
Gegic said the event is part of the agency's mission to work with armed actors and civilians to develop and implement solutions to prevent, mitigate and generally respond to civilian harm.
He further said the training seeks to prepare officers in insecurity-prone areas in the county for any eventuality that could come about as they go about their jobs.
Lamu Administration chief officer Malika Omar said the training will also enable the officers understand the chain of command on how to report such incident when they come across them.
“The bottom line is keeping the community safe from harm. The training is vital to boosting our practical capacity in the up-scaling our standards in prompt disaster risk preparedness and management,” Omar said.
Lamu County Disaster Management director Shee Kupi said many mine incidents recorded have inflicted death, fear, terror and mental anguish on the residents living in the area.
He however expressed confidence that such trainings will enable the officers to collaborate with the rest of the security machinery to minimise such incidents from happening in Lamu.
“Close to half of Lamu is currently under the security operation Amani Boni to flush out Shabaab militants," Kupi said.
'This training will enable this group of officers to acquire the skills necessary and play their role in neutralising the threat of mines here."
(edited by Amol Awuor)
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