Fresh violence erupted in Mandera district early today leading to the killing of two people, including an army soldier.Police said the two were killed in renewed clan fighting between Gharri and Murulle at Koromey village, about five kilometres from Mandera town where 31 houses were torched by rival communities.
“These two rival communities(Garres+Murulles) have been fighting over long-standing ethnic differences that need a permanent solution. The government has not addressed the matter adequately,” a local councillor Abdi Hassan says.
“There is a problem but the local provincial administration does not want to accept the reality. They have failed to sort this mess and you can see many people’s lives are going to be lost,” another officer said.
This latest clash is reported to have started at about 6 pm on Tuesday when members of the two warring clans clashed at the local market in Mandera town, forcing the police to intervene.“When the two communities retreated to the villages, the fighting started again, leading to the death of the two people,” a senior police officer in Mandera said. One of them was hacked to death by members of a rival community while the military officer was killed when he tried to intervene. This brings to eight the number of people killed since last week; six others were hacked to death or shot in Shashafey division.
Kenya Red Cross Communications Officer Titus Mung’ou who has been monitoring the situation said several people, mainly women and children had gone missing after the chaos that started on Tuesday night. “We have personnel on the ground who are helping to search for these people. We have also asked the locals to gather at meeting points at administrative offices where census will be taken to help us know who is present and who is not,” he said and added that the Kenya Red Cross team was on the ground assessing the situation.
Tension is reported to be high in the area despite the presence of security personnel including the army who patrols the Kenya-Somali and Ethiopia borders.
