Wajir, Kenya: A dawn raid on a border village in Wajir County left at least 12 people dead and several houses torched on Thursday morning as retaliatory attacks between two rival Somali clans escalated.
Suspected Garre militia allegedly attacked Gunan, a Degodia village in Tarbaj constituency. The militia are believed to have been on a mission to avenge the deaths of 10 Garre people. They were allegedly killed by Degodia bandits in Takaba Sub-county, Mandera, recently.
Wajir police boss David Kuria said the people were killed after heavily armed gunmen descended on the village at 7am.
He, however, could not confirm whether those killed died from burns or bullets.
“The area where the attack occurred is about 250km from Wajir town and I need to wait for my officers who went there this morning (yesterday) to return with information because the area has no network. But I can confirm that 12 people, 10 men and two women, were killed in the raid,” he said.
The police boss said security reinforcements were sent to the area, adding that Administration Police officers, stationed in the border village, repulsed the attackers.
“We suspect the attack was revenge for Wednesday’s attack in Takaba by suspected Degodia gunmen in Mandera County, where people were killed and some animals, including camels, sheep and goats, were also killed,” he said.
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has condemned the killings and urged the warring clans to embrace dialogue to end the skirmishes that are a threat to devolution.
The governor noted that the number of those killed in the raid could be more, adding that some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition.
“The attackers, who were very many according to eye witnesses, used highly sophisticated firearms to attack the village from all corners,” he said in Wajir town.
Kuria said the area was tense but he has urged Mandera county security officials to send reinforcements. He said ending the senseless inter-clan bloodshed remained their biggest challenge.
Warring clans
The latest killings come as security agencies in Wajir and Mandera counties expressed concern over the increased infiltration of firearms as the two warring clans armed themselves to the teeth.
He said police in Wajir have nabbed two gunrunners and recovered 660 bullets and 23 magazines, shortly after the arsenal was sneaked into the country from neigbouring Somalia. The smugglers were intercepted at the Diff border point.
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