the STAR (Nairobi)
POLICE in Garissa yesterday forced a Star journalist to delete photographs of 25 injured TFG soldiers. The wounded soldiers had been airlifted from Somalia after a firefight last Friday with al Shabaab at Hayo camp, 25 kilometres from Afmadow.
Star correspondent Stephen Asteriko chanced on the soldiers who had been admitted to the Garissa General Hospital before being flown to Nairobi for further treatment. The photojournalist was accompanied by a Citizen TV cameraman. "I went to the Garissa General Hospital for the day’s assignment to check on the doctors' strike. While still I was still there, I got news that an explosion had occurred in Ifo refuge camp in Dadaab district," Asteriko said.
"So I decided to do a follow-up of both stories at the hospital. The injured TFG soldiers were waiting to be flown to Nairobi for medication. They were supposed to be taken to the airstrip by an ambulance and so I decided to take the pictures," Asteriko said. "I did not know that there were military police or civilians who were providing security to the soldiers at the hospital," he said.
Asteriko explained that the soldiers confiscated the camera claiming that "it is now in the hands of the military". "Upon seeing the cameras, after I had taken several photos together with my colleague from Citizen TV, the guy rammed me and confiscated both cameras. He threatened to destroy them if we continued questioning him about the fate of our cameras," stated Asteriko.
The two journalists were handed over to the medical superintendent, who then handed them over to two policemen. After interrogation at Garissa Police Station, the police instructed the journalists to erase all their pictures which they did. Last Friday 25 TFG soldiers were wounded in Hayo, 25 km from Bilis Kokani, during an attack by a large group of al Shabaab.
The soldiers, mostly below the age of 20, had received serious injuries to the head, chest and leg. Thirteen were to be flown to Nairobi for specialised treatment after being attended to by the Kenya Army doctors at the Garissa Hospital under heavy guard.
Some of the injured still had bullets in their bodies, according to a source. “We come across these militias. They ambushed and started shooting at us. Fortunately no one was killed in the shootout. They ran away and disappeared in the bush, “ one TFG soldier told curious onlookers in Somali.
However other sources claimed that al Shabaab had overrun the TFG forward camp at Hayo on Friday. The camp was manned by an estimated 300 TFG soldiers, mainly consisting of Ras Komboni militias loyal to Ahmed Mabhobe. An estimated 1,000 al Shabaab attacked the camp. No Kenyan soldiers were in the battle.
The al Shabaab reportedly captured seven "technical" vehicles and are reported to still be occupying the camp at Hayo, according to the Somali source. Army and civilian doctors at Garissa were unwilling to talk to the press as was Northeastern PPO Leo Nyongesa.
Meanwhile, yesterday a police officer was killed and three injured by an explosion at Ifo 3 at the Dadaab refugee camp. The three officers on regular patrol had parked their car and were resting under a tree on the road linking Ifo to Dagahaley. A remote control device then exploded at 10 am killing the Administration Police officer and injuring his colleagues. Police have since arrested 60 people.
The attackers might have known that the policemen routinely use the tree as a patrol base. “These people knew very well what they were doing because immediately the officers sat under the tree, somebody somewhere detonated the device from a remote location,” added the source. Dadaab DC Albert Kimathi said one of the injured officers was taken to Garissa Hospital while his two colleagues received treatment in Dadaab.
After the explosion, a man came out of the bush to try and take their guns but a Department of Refugee Affairs vehicle arrived and chased him away. He abandoned the weapons and disappeared into the thickets. Nyongesa said police have mounted a search for the people behind the explosion.
Two weeks ago a police van hit a landmine injuring four officers on board. The convoy was taking UN staff from Hagardera refugee camp to Dadaab UNHCR sub-office base after their duties. Refugee leaders immediately condemned the incident blaming it on the al Shabaab.
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