NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – The Kenyan government has formed a new police unit to enhance border security.
Al-Shabaab fighters had been launching deadly attacks in Kenya since 2011 when the East African nation.
According to Nairobi based Newspaper, Standard, the pioneer camel patrol unit under the Border Patrol Unit of the Administration Police Service.
The new force will be based in Isiolo County and will involve 50 camels that are currently being trained.
Sources told the paper that the creation of the unit was informed by rising cases of terror attacks targeting security personnel on patrol in far-flung areas.
The camels will be used to patrol parts of North Eastern region as well as areas prone to cattle rustling.
The concept has been borrowed from India, Australia, and New Zealand, where thousands of camels are deployed to police borders.
“Camels, if and when trained well, are intelligent animals that can see far and alert their riders of incoming danger. This is a good move,” another source told The Standard.
A team of 100 officers from Kenya is reportedly set to travel to India to observe how camels are used to patrol the Himalayas border.
Kenya has been struggling to step the security of its areas along its border with Somalia.
Thousands of Kenyan troops who operate under the framework of African Union are helping the Somali government in the fight against Al-Shabaab in Southern Somalia
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