Deaths mount in Kenya over cattle theft
NAIROBI (AFP) — A spate of cattle rustling has fanned tribal animosity in Kenya's Rift Valley and left 25 people dead in the past three days, police said Thursday.
In the latest incident, cattle raiders killed 12 villagers in Baringo district on Wednesday evening, said regional police commander Joseph Ashimalla.
Police responded to the raid and five of the rustlers were killed in the ensuing shootout, Ashimalla said.
The attack brings to 25 the number of people killed in recent days in rustling incidents which have exposed festering tribal animosities between Turkana, Samburu and Pokot communities in the region.
Late Tuesday, raiders killed eight people in a nearby district.
While not directly linked to the nationwide violence that followed disputed December elections, the killings have been seen as part of the fallout from the ensuing political crisis.
The dire economic impact of two months of tribal killings and police raids have boosted crime figures and heightened tensions between rival communities.
Kenyan lawmakers on Tuesday backed a power-sharing deal to end the political crisis, but warned that land and ethnic disputes needed urgent attention.
Police have vowed to crackdown on the rustlers.
"We are very vigilant ... police will make sure that law and order is restored in some of these affected areas. We will stop at nothing," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said.
Kiraithe also announced arson charges against five people linked to post-election violence near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret.
If convicted, they face possible life sentences.
Security forces continued searching for a fugitive militia chief who is accused of fomenting violence in the restive northwestern Mount Elgon region, where several hundred people have been killed and 66,000 displaced by bloody clashes since December 2006.
John Kanai is commander of the Sabaot Land Defence Force, a militia which has been fighting the government over land claims.
Troops backed by helicopters are sweeping the area in a bid to flush out the SLDF. At least eight people have been killed and hundreds arrested since the latest operation was launched on March 9.
