46 killed, scores injured in fresh Baragoi attacks as villagers flee

Forty six people have been killed and scores others seriously injured in fresh clashes in Baragoi area of the rustling-prone Samburu County. Five people said to be in critical condition were airlifted to the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.

Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Osman Warfa confirmed the 46 deaths on Monday night.

Kenya Red Cross County manager Mugambi Gitonga also confirmed the deaths earlier in the day, but said tension was rising in the area, adding more attacks were feared.

“The situation might get worse if the government does not take urgent actions to stop retaliatory attacks. People are already fleeing the villages to Maralal town,” he said.

This, he said, would hurt learning since schools reopened yesterday.

Trouble started on Sunday morning when armed raiders surrounded a manyatta in Lomirok, leading to speculation they were out to steal livestock.

Pasture conflict

Community workers said men were surveying the manyatta before releasing their animals to graze and bumped into the raiders who were hiding in nearby bushes.

“Normally, the herders do not release their animals into the field before surveying the area and it was during the patrol that they discovered that the manyatta had been surrounded,” said one of the community workers.

He said a gunfight between the two groups ensued and eight of the suspected raiders were killed in the gun battle that lasted two hours.

“The fight at Lomirok happened away from the manyatta and that is why no woman or child was injured or killed. No animal was stolen in the Sunday fight,” he said.

Rift Valley regional co-ordinator Osman Warfa toured the area in the company of Samburu County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha.
Samburu North MP Alois Lentoimaga accused the government of failing to recover stolen animals.

Baragoi has been marred by inter-community clashes occasioned by cattle-rustling, politics and conflict over pasture and water.

In November 2012, 42 police officers were killed as they went into Suguta Valley to recover stolen animals.