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Livestock raid leaves 54 dead in Kenya: relief agency

Xinhua, May 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 54 people have been killed and unknown number of livestock stolen or displaced after a livestock raid on a village in northwest Kenya's Turkana county, a humanitarian agency said on Wednesday.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said the retaliatory clashes at Nadome village have also left about 350 families displaced and are currently camping at Nabokut and Nasoret areas.

"After a long trek to the scene, our team on the ground has reported 54 people dead. Five critical cases have been evacuated to hospital," KRCS said on its Twitter handle.

Tension, however, remains high in the area amid fears of retaliatory attacks. Security officers have also mounted a security operation to flush out bandits who have terrorized residents since Saturday.

Residents said the attack by the Turkana raiders was retaliation after Pokot rustlers attacked a village in Baringo and stole 100 goats.

But the police claimed the clashes between Pokot and Turkana, including Samburus, were incited by a local politician. Samburu shares borders with Turkana County, which borders South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia.

In November last year, armed raiders killed more than 20 police officers and over ten civilians in an ambush as they pursued Pokot raiders in Kapedo, an attack, seen as the worst on police officers since 2012 when at least 42 police officers were massacred by bandits in Baragoi.

Rift Valley regional commissioner Osman Warfa said on Wednesday the police are combing the area for more casualties.

An estimated 92 people were feared dead after bandits staged two heavy counter-raids in areas along the borders between Pokot East, Turkana and Samburu.

Unconfirmed sources said among the dead were 51 Pokots and 42 from the Turkana community, of whom more than 20 are women and children.

Clashes between the rival cattle herding pastoralists in the region are common, with herders often carrying guns to protect their animals, but the recent fighting has been unusually heavy.

Livestock herding is the main livelihood and source of income in northern and some parts of western Kenya, and the hike in cattle thefts threatens to ignite cross-community reprisals and raids that could set the stage for a surge in ethnic fighting in the region. Endi