NAIROBI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday imposed a month-long dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of three counties in its northwest region over worsening insecurity.
The curfew in parts of Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot counties will pave the way for a security operation against banditry and deadly conflicts in the area, said Fred Matiang'i, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination.
A disarmament operation will be launched alongside social development interventions to restore order in the areas and other parts of the North Rift, he said.
"We are beginning to draw two critical exercises that we want to do, which include reorganizing deployment in that area and declaration of a curfew," Matiang'i said in a gazette notice released in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
According to the notice, the order shall apply during the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and shall remain in effect for 30 days.
No public gatherings, processions or movement, either alone or as a group, are allowed during the curfew, it said.
Last week, the government said political incitement has led to violence that left dozens of people dead and many others displaced, expressing frustration at the lack of goodwill and cooperation from area leaders.
"Criminals are challenging the government's resolve, and we are going to pursue them to the farthest end possible," Matiangi said. "We have exhausted all the means to arrest the situation in that area."
"It now requires a whole new approach because we have been left with no option," he said.
The approach combines national and local-level security operations to provide urgent interventions to address the wider political, economic, and social drivers of violence, Matiangi said.
Clashes between rival cattle-herding pastoralists in the region are common, with herders often carrying guns to protect their animals, but recent fighting has been unusually heavy. ■