Saturday, August 16, 2014
THREE people have been killed and four houses torched in Mandera following an attack by suspected militias from a rival clan.
Raiders stormed Chiroqo, a village in Banisa sub-county along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, at around 4.30pm on Thursday.
They shot people randomly and burned Somali traditional grass-thatched houses known as Hirios.
Banisa Deputy County Commissioner Samwel Mwati confirmed the incident.
“We are combing the region for the militias," Mwati said, adding that the area has been sealed off.
He said the raiders, who were about seven in number, are suspected to be gunmen from one of the clans engaged in fighting in recent days.
The attack happened about 50 Meters from a Rapid Deployment Unit deployed from the Administration Police to maintain security in the hotspot.
The clashes, which have claimed over 100 lives so far, have been blamed on county politics.
Minority clans complain of being short-changed in the division of both elective and nominative positions and the tendering process.
Mwati called on locals to maintain calm. He said the police are in control and that no retaliatory attacks will be tolerated.
"Members of the public are advised to report anybody spreading inter-clan hatred," he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had called for a ceasefire after meeting leaders from the area in Nairobi in June this year.
Governors, senators, MPs and community elders from the two warring clans have been holding meetings to draft an agreement that will end the hostility.
The peace deal, dubbed Red Court Accord Number 2, has been stalled by suspicions between the two clans. -