Three killed in Isiolo-Garissa border inter-community attack

By Moses Mwenda 

Three people among them two children were killed on Tuesday morning in a retaliatory attack between two communities at Maraha area on the Isiolo-Garissa Counties border.

Isiolo County Commissioner John Ondego said the deceased include an adult and children aged 11 and 13.

Several other victims sustained injuries in the attack pitting Borana community herders from Isiolo against their Somali counterparts from Garissa.

The attack came less than a month after three more people were killed in a similar incident at Eldera Township.

Last Sunday, two people were seriously wounded during a botched cattle raid at Mata Bofu area in Isiolo by suspected cattle raiders from Lagdera.

One victim is nursing gunshot wounds at the Isiolo County Referral Hospital while the other was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised treatment, having sustained severe head injuries from the attack.

The commissioner has called on the local leaders from Isiolo and Garissa counties to move with speed and calm down their members to avert further retaliatory attacks.

He further assured members of the public that additional security officers had been deployed to the affected area, adding that the security situation is under control.

Speaking in Isiolo town on Tuesday afternoon, political leaders led by Governor Mohamed Kuti and Isiolo South MP Abdi Koropu condemned the attacks, saying they had resolved to engage members of public from the affected area in a peace-seeking dialogue to help contain the situation and prevent more bloodshed.