For the last six years, Kenyans have seen a special unit of the police force which is often seen in deadly operations in which rescue mission cannot be handled by regular or Administration Police officers.
In 2013 September, the Recce Squad Unit, which is selected from among General Service Unit officers, made it's first major operation within the country during the Westgate Mall siege. During the operation, a misunderstanding between the special unit and the KDF team ensued thus dragging the operation.
Two years later in 2015, the unit whose number is unknown, participated in Garissa University rescue in which suspected Al Shabaab militants were overpowered and killed.
And on Tuesday, for the first time in history, the now famous unit managed to kill five militants who had attacked Dusit Hotel Complex in which 21 people died. Their swift response is said to have saved many lives.
Recce Squad training is done in Kenya and abroad. These elite soldiers go through highly regarded military training in countries such as the United Kingdom, Israel and America.
For the team to perform such operations as the one conducted at the Garissa Massacre, the Recce squad trainees attend the basic GSU training school in Embakasi.
Thereafter, those fit for this special unit and emerge as the best in academic and field performance undergo a further 7 month specialized training in VIP protection, handling and detonating explosives, security of vital installations, anti-terrorism, sky marshal (the counter terrorism unit on board commercial flights) and rescue operations, reports the informationcradle.com
After completion of the rigorous training, these elite soldiers are deployed in the three different units to provide support to the other field companies of the General Service Unit.
The GSU Recce Company unit also include the Sky Marshal unit. This is the undercover counter terrorist unit on board commercial flights to counter aircraft hijackings.