Cape Town - Detectives based at the Forensic Bomb Disposal and Hazardous materials unit in Kenya are in possession of an 84mm mortar bomb that was discovered by a farmhand in Kigumo Murang’a county, according to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Kenyan police said concerned villagers milled around the object, some arguing “that it was a missile, while others claimed that it was an overgrown arrow root”.
Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who responded immediately after being informed, identified the object as a mortar bomb.
“The dangerous military ordnance, was most likely left behind by the British forces at the height of the Mau Mau uprising in 1953, when sections of Mt Kenya and Aberdare forests suffered aerial bombardment, to flush out Mau Mau fighters,” the DCI said in a statement, citing a report by BBC News Africa.
IT IS A MORTAR BOMB NOT AN ARROW ROOT, DCI BOMB EXPERTS CONFIRM
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) May 8, 2022
Detectives based at the Forensic Bomb Disposal and Harzadous materials unit are in possession of an 84mm mortar bomb that was discovered by a farmhand in Kigumo Murang’a county, today afternoon. The discovery of pic.twitter.com/UbiwtlrsCL
The bomb was due to be safely detonated on Monday, the DCI said.
In an unrelated incident last week, a farmhand in Kinyana village, just a kilometre from the Mt Kenya National Park, raised the alarm after spotting what he thought was a lion lurking in the shrubs.
KWS Meru team swiftly rushed to the scene in a bid to mitigate a possible human wildlife conflict case.
On arrival, KWS rangers were astonished to find that the “alleged lion” was a carrier bag bearing a depiction of a lion.
The bag had been placed in the hedge by the home owner, who had put some avocado tree seedlings in it to prevent them from drying out.
IOL