Violence rocks Isiolo as boda boda operators clash

Business was paralysed in Isiolo Town on Friday after members of two communities clashed.

Traders closed shops and a school near the town was closed after the fighting groups started looting.

The confrontation between the two groups started when boda boda operators from the Meru community complained that their Borana counterparts were destroying and looting their motorcycles.

The Meru operators also complained that one of their colleagues was killed Friday morning.

They held demonstrations in the town at around 10 am, leading to a confrontation with boda boda riders from the Borana community.

Police shot in the air and lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd of young people.

Wabera Primary School was also closed following the incident.

Isiolo County Commissioner George Natembeya told the Nation by phone that no one was killed as claimed by some of the boda boda operators.

An impromptu meeting was later held between the county security team and leaders and elders from the two communities.

Tension was still high in the town at 2pm.

Tension between the two communities has been building for the last two weeks following persistent cattle rustling along the Meru-Isiolo border that has left 10 people dead.