At least one General Service Unit officer was injured when gunmen attacked their camp at the border of Laikipia and Baringo counties.
The gunmen opened fire into Kamwenje command center injuring at least one officer as others took cover.
It is believed the gunmen were part of herders who were on the move with stolen animals and the shooting which was indiscriminate was meant to warn the team not to pursue them.
They also shot at another nearby station as they drove their herd away.
The injured officer was rushed to the hospital after the Monday 2pm incident.
This is the latest such incident in the area since an operation was launched to drive herders from private ranches in the area.
At least 10 officers have been injured and two killed in the clash. The team is in the area to address the emerging trend of banditry and cattle rustling, which is now threatening security that has been experienced in the area in the past years.
Officials said more security personnel had been sent to the area to pursue the attackers who are also heavily armed.
The government had on July 28 given herders who have invaded private farms in Laikipia seven days to move out of the county or face forceful evictions.
But they stayed put, prompting the operation. Interior CS Fred Matiang’i warned the herders that a crackdown will follow the lapse of the ultimatum and urged them to leave within the window.
Matiang'i blamed the encroaching herders for violent clashes with local farmers and owners of private ranches and conservancies.
Matiang’i also announced an immediate takeover by security teams of the 80,000- acre Kilmon farm that is owned by the government and that has been a theatre of deadly clashes between armed herders from Laikipia and the neighbouring counties.
A GSU camp was established at the parcel to create a buffer zone between the two warring sides.
The CS further ordered private ranchers and pastoralists to register agreements on access to pasture with the county government beginning next month to enable the government to enforce the pacts and arbitrate bloody disputes around their implementation.
“If you have an agreement with ranchers, that’s OK. But for the government to be able to provide security, we want such agreements recorded and the terms registered with the County Government to help resolve disputes around them,” he said.
To help pastoralists in the county ease the pressure on grazing pastures and water points, Matiang'i further announced that the Kenya Meat Commission, which is under the Kenya Defence Forces, will begin buying around 1,000 livestock weekly from next week in an off-take deal brokered by the Government.
The programme will complement a similar one being implemented by the Laikipia county government.
Edited by CM