Residents keep off Kapedo after killings in border town
Two men make phone calls at a vantage point in Kapedo on the border of Baringo and Turkana counties. Tension remains high in Kapedo following the killing of five people in a retaliatory attack on Saturday. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Shops at Kapedo market remained closed as locals stayed indoors for fear of more attacks by suspected bandits.
- Three men and two women who were shopping at the market died on the spot and three other women sustained serious injuries during the attack.
- Turkana East Deputy County Commissioner Joseph Bullut has said the five who were killed were innocent villagers.
Tension remains high in Kapedo on the border of Baringo and Turkana counties following the killing of five people in a retaliatory attack on Saturday.
Shops at Kapedo market remained closed as locals stayed indoors for fear of more attacks by suspected bandits.
The attack has sparked fresh animosity between the warring Pokot and Turkana communities, with some residents fleeing the area.
According to a resident, Mr Katiar Nalekat, three men and two women who were shopping at the market died on the spot and three other women sustained serious injuries during the attack.
“It is unfortunate that we keep losing our people because of banditry,” he said.
The attack is said to have been a revenge mission after morans allegedly raided Kamunge village in the neighbouring Turkana County, killed one person and made away with an unknown number of livestock on Thursday last week.
INNOCENT VILLAGERS
Turkana East Deputy County Commissioner Joseph Bullut has said the five who were killed were innocent villagers.
Mr Bullut said at around 4pm on Saturday, a group of villagers from a nearby Pokot village arrived at Kapedo trading centre and were suddenly shot and killed by the attackers.
“The trading centre, despite hostility between warriors from the two communities, is where all of them buy household goods and food,” the administrator said.
While condemning the attack, Mr Bullut said security personnel were pursuing the attackers.
He urged residents to report to the authorities any person causing chaos within their villages and assured them of their security.
The attacks continue to happen amid a massive security operation in the volatile areas of Baringo County aimed at flushing out bandits and mopping up illegal firearms.
The operation which started two months ago is aimed at driving away bandits and illegal herders who have invaded the volatile Baringo North and Baringo South sub-counties.
