A Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer was shot and killed by a motorcycle gang in Utawala, Nairobi on Tuesday night, police have said.

KDF soldier, senior private Joseph Mwangi, was on his way home when he was ambushed by a gang of 3 which was on a boda boda and they demanded the backpack he was carrying.

According to police, a scuffle ensued between the Mwangi and the thugs before one fatally shot him and they all the thugs fled the scene with his backpack.

Security guards who were nearby responded and rushed the 30-year-old soldier to a nearby hospital but their efforts did not bear fruit as he died on arrival.

Police, who later arrived at the scene, said they were unable to find the spent cartridge with the single bullet said to have hit Mwangi in his lower abdomen and exited at the back.

Police are hunting down the robbers even as it remains unclear what was in the backpack coming as cases of armed robberies have been on the rise in the capital city.

The body of the deceased soldier has been moved to the morgue.