Refugees shot dead and police attacked

Two refugees have been shot dead at the Ifo camp near Dadaab and two grenades hurled at a nearby police station.

North Eastern police boss Leo Nyongesa said the two were shot on Saturday in what is suspected to be a case of rivalry among refugees.

The incident occurred at around 9pm and three hours later, two grenades were thrown at the Ifo police station. No one was injured and there was no damage, Mr Nyongesa said.

Though security had been tightened at Ifo and Dadaab camps and in Dadaab town, anxiety is high as the guns used shoot the refugees have not been traced.

Garissa residents said a few hours before the incident, worshippers coming from a mosque in Ifo were attacked by armed men.

A woman was shot in the neck and died. The attackers are believed to be al-Shabaab.

Police, however, did not link the two incidents to al-Shabaab but blamed defected Transitional Federal Government of Somalia soldiers.

On Sunday, police arrested a man in Ifo believed to be behind last week’s Lagdera explosive device attack in which an Administration Police officer died and four were seriously injured.

“We arrested a middle-aged man of Somali origin and he will appear in court soon,” said Mr Nyongesa.

Kenya has witnessed a spate of grenade attacks in recent months, the latest being at a popular night club in Mombasa where at one person died and four others were injured.

Early this year, two refugee leaders in Dadaab were gunned down in two days.

In March this year, two Somali refugees were shot dead and a third wounded by gunmen at Dadaab camp.

Police investigations suggested it could have been a revenge attack as the attackers did not take anything.

There were claims the attacks were masterminded by the al-Shabaab allied al-Qaeda, whose members are believed to be hiding in the refugee camps.