Chaos and running battles as KDF, police barricade roads leading to JKIA

Protesters on Tuesday engaged security agencies in running battles as the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and police officers barricaded all roads leading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

Motorists and passengers underwent mandatory screening along various routes leading to the airport.

Multi-security agencies which also included plain clothes officers using unmarked vehicles intensified surveillance along the Outering Road, Taj Mall Interchange, Eastern Bypass, Old Airport Road and a section of the Mombasa-Nairobi highway to keep protesters at bay.

The confrontation between security agencies and demonstrators extended to the adjacent Pipeline Estate where police used water cannons to discharge a pink-like chemical in residential areas, in pursuit of protesters.

With the protests extending to the Taj Mall intersection, the security agencies called in back-up who arrived in unmarked vehicles.

The occupants, who were heavily armed officers, took charge, overpowering protesters and forcing them to retreat to Outering Road.

The security was further reinforced by a heavy contingent of KDF officers who took up positions along the roads leading to the JKIA.

Even as the police battled the protesters, an aircraft was seen conducting aerial surveillance.

Protesters were pushing for a total shutdown of the airport, to force the government to heed their demands.